Nobility
by SilenceoftheLlamas
Summary: "From the moment I separated from my carriers spark it was chosen who I would be bonded to. I had been raised with that knowledge, knowing that no matter what I would end up with them."
1. Chapter 1

**It started off as a suggestion from MoonWallker but my mind blew it out of proportion and this train wreck happened. It's kind of veered off from the original suggestion, but it still counts... right?**

**_RELEASE THE BUNNIES._**

**Units of time as I use them:**

**Klick – a second**

**Breem – a minute**

**Joor – an hour**

**Cycle – a day**

**Decacycle – 10 days**

**Groon – a month**

**Orn – a decade**

**Vorn – a century**

{bond chatter}

::Comm. chatter::

* * *

To say I was nervous didn't quite cut it.

From the moment I separated from my carriers spark it was chosen who I would be bonded to. I had been raised with that knowledge, knowing that no matter what I would end up with them.

We had met when we were younger, and we met once an orn when the nobles gathered at a conference with the council to discuss the future of cybertron. While we were much too young to participate in the discussion, they didn't stop us from exploring the grounds of the building where they gathered, so long as we didn't break anything.

The gathering always took place in the Crystal gardens in my intendeds' home city of Praxus. I would often run around, watching as the light was refracted through the crystal resulting in an entire spectrum of colours that reflected onto my own metallic body.

Needless to say, it was quite the sight.

I still can't forget the first time I saw my intended, doorwings held high and tight against his back, glossy finish and commanding optics, despite his age. He was scolding Starscream for something he'd done – probably something incredibly stupid knowing him – and it was very funny. I remember laughing at them.

And today, I was going to visit those gardens for the first time in vorns as a mech old enough to participate. I hadn't attended them with my creators the past few times as I was old enough to be left with my tutors – and my education came before running around crystal gardens.

I was nervous because today our bonding date was to be finalised, and this would be the first time I would see my intended in his adult frame. We had kept in contact, obviously, however there was only so much that we could do by comm. and letter.

"How much longer is it until we're there?" I asked, unable to keep my pedes still.

"Just a joor." The driver replied, glancing back at me. If the sounds of my pedes repetitively tapping on the metal annoyed them, they said nothing.

A joor until the rest of my life was set in stone. I was caught between being ecstatic and distraught. Ecstatic because I'd finally be moving from Polyhex, the city I was sparked and raised in, to Praxus, a cultural hotspot and one of the most beautiful cities on Cybertron. Distraught because I'd be leaving Polyhex, the city of music, and my creators. I didn't know when I'd see them again or if I'd be able to see them outside of council gatherings.

::Are you lookin' forward to it?:: My sire, Tempo, pinged me.

::The meetings? Na. Booorin'!:: I pinged back, grinning.

::Meetin's bein' a borin' is a given, I was talkin' about seein' your fella again::

::What do ya think?::

::Gettin' cold feet already?::

::Nervous as Pit::

::You'll be fine. I was nervous too, but I've been blessed with your carrier::

::You think I'll be okay?::

::You'll be perfect::

Before I knew it, we were pulling up outside of the Crystal gardens. The crystals were just as big as I remembered, and the colours just as vibrant. I looked in through the gates and felt my spark begin to flutter. Just beyond them, waiting to receive us, was Prowl. My intended.

The moment the door to the transport opened, I was out and instantly bathed in the rainbow light from the crystals. I quickly shielded my visor, not wanting to damage it, and I waited for my creators to leave the transport.

Prowl had started to walk towards us, and Primus was he poetry in motion. The light curled around him, highlighting all of the right curves and places. If I had less dignity, my mouth would be hanging slack and I would positively be drooling.

He greeted my creators first with a handshake and a bow, tilting his doorwings respectively. When he reached me, he gently pressed a kiss to the back of my hand.

"It's good to see you." He said, looking directly into my visor. His piercing, almost all-knowing gaze was slightly unnerving, however it was what made him Prowl and a vicious opponent to debate against.

"It's good to see you, too." I replied, fighting to keep my accent at bay. His lips twitched upwards at the corners in an almost-smile before he returned his attention towards my creators, who seemed far too happy about something.

He gestured for us to follow, and he lead us towards the meeting hall where we would spend the next ten joors talking about things that didn't matter, i.e the council getting their transistors in a twist over mundane things such as their authority over us. There had been a power shift towards us, the nobles, however this always happened. It lasted for half an orn before it shifted straight back to them.

My creators walked in first, as protocol demanded, and Prowl stole a quick kiss on the top of my helm before guiding me in.

"We're to the left. It's more listening than talking at this point."

Joy. Well, they weren't exactly going to listen to our opinions were they? The whole 'youngsters are stupid' thing 'n' all.

It looked like we were the first families to arrive, so we took a seat together. Soon, nobles from all of the different city states started arriving, including Starscream. It looked like he's found himself two trine mates, as he was flanked by two seekers. One was taller than the other two, and was blue. The other was black and purple.

As soon as Starscream laid eyes on a noble from Kaon his trine mates were forgotten and he was practically sitting in that nobles lap. Poor thing.

It turned out that Vos was the last to arrive – no changes there – and the session began.

Needless to say, it wasn't particularly gripping and I couldn't stay focused. Something about trading routes, rebels and coolant spillages. Prowl stayed alert and his optics were always focused on the speaker. I smirked as I thought of the things going through the speakers head, such as 'why is he looking at me like that' and 'how do I get him to stop'. It's funny how such simple things can please you when you're bored.

"Ah think ya scarin' him." I whispered to him when a council member met Prowls gaze and stumbled around their words.

He looked at me, a little confused.

"How am I scaring him?"

"Your optics are a lil' intense."

He still seemed to be slightly confused, but at least he didn't return to boring holes into the helms of the speaking council members.

* * *

It was starting to send me to recharge again when Prowls doorwings suddenly hiking up jerked me back to full consciousness. He stood up before speaking.

"That would create shortages all over Cybertron."

"Not if we're doing it carefully-" A council member began to reply, facial expression and tone clearly showing what they thought of the much younger mech who interrupted them.

"Regardless of the method, a large population is going to be effected by it."

"And how can you be so sure?"

"This idea has been proposed before, and it nearly wiped out the entire population of the planet."

The silence that filled the room then was deafening. I wanted to start clapping, just for something to fill the silence, however something told me that would get me disowned on the spot.

"And who exactly are you?" The council member replied, more interested in Prowl than before. This time, it was a Praxian sat in the seat next to my sire who stood up and answered.

"Prowl. He is my creation." He replied, giving Prowl a harsh glare. Prowls doorwings flicked downwards slightly and he pressed his lips together tightly. I was slightly worried as for what that meant. "I am sorry for his arrogance."

Prowls doorwings flicked upwards sharply, and his optics flashed. I nearly stood up next to him and defended his point – he was anything _but_ arrogant – even though I didn't even know what we were talking about, but a council member's dismissive wave stopped me. Prowl slowly sat back down, fuming.

Lord Smokscreen of Praxus, quite clearly, was a no-nonsense mech. I didn't like the implications of what that meant. I used to glue people to their berths for Primus sake, if my creators ever mentioned that in casual conversation I was screwed!

The session continued on from there, however whenever Prowl looked as though he was going to stand to make a point, a glare from his sire had him sitting firmly in his seat again. He was grating his denta together in frustration, and I gently brushed our hands together in a silent invitation. He intertwined our digits together, giving me a small smile.

Exactly ten joors after it had started, the session ended and everyone started filling out. Prowl remained in his seat, staring intensely ahead. He seemed to be lost in thought. My carrier, a femme called Rhythm, gently tapped me on my shoulder. "We have to start discussing dates with the council. Would you like to join us?"

I nearly asked 'dates for what?' before I suddenly remembered and caught myself before I offended anyone, namely the mech currently sat beside me. I shook my helm. "Ah think A'll just be standin' there noddin' meh helm at everthin'. Ah won't be any good."

Rhythim laughed, stroking my helm and placing a quick peck on the middle of my visor. "I'll tell you as soon as we've decided."

She practically skipped away to rejoin my sire, the two linking arms. I quickly looked and Prowl to find that he'd snapped out of his trance and was now watching our creators and a council member talking.

"I wonder what date they'll settle on."

"Did you wanna join in?"

"No, I'll be in the same boat as you. Just nodding." He replied a small smile on his face.

I laughed, finding it hard to imagine _Prowl_, a mech well known even in Polyhex for _never_ backing down, just accepting whatever was thrown at him without a fight.

"What's funny?" he asked, the smile disappearing as quickly as it appeared.

"You are." I replied, playfully punching his arm. He gave me a bewildered look. "Ah'll explain later."

He glanced upwards and saw that our creators and the council member were all agreeing on something. I suddenly felt butterflies in my tank. When was it? I hoped it wasn't too soon. As lovely as Prowl was, we weren't particularly close and the more I thought about it the less I knew about him.

Rhythm turned around and smiled at me. Obviously, she was picking up on what little emotions still got through the weak bond we shared as creation and carrier. When the council member turned to leave, she waved me over.

"We decided on a date." She excitedly said to me, bouncing slightly on her pedes. While I was used to Rhythm doing this, the Praxians around us were not. This small tid-bit of information seemed to go unnoticed by her, as usual. "We all decided on a groon from now."

A groon? Well, that wasn't too bad. Gave me three decacycles to squeeze as much information out of Prowl as I could before we had to bond.

Prowl relaxed marginally. He appeared to be pleased with the timing, too. Lord Smokescreen coughed once to clear his intakes before leading us out of the building and towards what could only be described as a castle. It was fraggin' _huge_.

As Polyhex was so far away, a trip to Praxus and then back again couldn't be done in the same cycle. So, because of this, my family had always stayed in Praxus after the meeting and returned back the next cycle.

To get to it, we had to walk through the crystal gardens. While Smokescreen, Rhythm and Tempo went ahead, my carrier talking animatedly to Smokescreen, I lagged behind with Prowl.

The stars had started to set, and the new angle the light was coming in from made the crystals that surrounded us glow with shades of red and pink. We still loosely held each other's hands, slowly walking through the gardens. After a few moments of silence, when the only noise came from the breeze running through the crystals, Prowl broke it.

"I fully intend to court you over the next groon. I hope you don't mind."

Ooh, that was unexpected. Courting, hm? That'd be a good way to know what he liked and what made him tick...

"Ah was thinkin' exactly the same thing."

This was going to be a fun groon.

* * *

**I really like the noble verse and I'm a sucker for stories set in it. I'm super glad I got a suggestion for it or I wouldn't have been brave enough to give it a shot.**

**I guess I should probably say here that Rhythm and Tempo are my OC's and if they're similar/the same to other OC's/characters it's accidental and I seriously did not mean it D:**

**~Llama**


	2. Chapter 2

**Glad to see that the first chapter was so well received!**

**Units of time as I use them:**

**Klick – a second**

**Breem – a minute**

**Joor – an hour**

**Cycle – a day**

**Decacycle – 10 days**

**Groon – a month**

**Orn – a decade**

**Vorn – a century**

{bond chatter}

::Comm. chatter::

* * *

I had been given my own quarters for my stay in Praxus.

While my creators would be leaving the very next day, I would be staying for the next two decaorns in order to adjust to the way things were done here in Praxus and so I could learn the layout of the city.

Praxus was admittedly bigger than Polyhex, however everything was roomier and a lot wider. I supposed that was so they could allow more room for the doorwings that were the defining features of the population. We didn't have anything special about us in Polyhex. Boring old mechs for a boring old city, I guess.

However, those two decacycles would be spent with Prowl, a mech I fully intended to court. They would be far from boring.

It was already starting to breech into the recharge cycle when we arrived, so I was quickly shown to my room by Prowl, who insisted he did it instead of a member of serving staff, and he told me to meet him a joor before the first star rose.

I set my internal chronometer to wake me up in time to meet him before falling into recharge.

* * *

I woke up moments before it went off, and I quickly made myself look reasonably presentable before I left my quarters to look for Prowl.

I didn't have to look for long. I walked in the general direction I remembered Prowls quarters being in, and I saw Prowl walking towards me. His doorwings were held as regally as always, tight against his back and displayed proudly. I unconsciously sped up, grinning at him. He sleepily smiled back, and when we were close enough he linked arms with me.

"I have something I'd like to show you." He said, walking down the way I had come. I curiously followed him, wondering what there was to see at this time of day.

When we walked outside, the first star was starting to rise. The light from them had not yet reached the crystals, however Prowl increased his pace.

He slowed down once we'd reached a slope that overlooked a large portion of the crystal gardens. We sat down, and I looked around us.

From where we were sitting, we were hidden from anyone watching us in the castle, and we had an incredibly good view of the crystal gardens. Crystal trees were also beginning to grow around us, not much taller than my waist. I could hear them hum and buzz.

"What was it ya wanted ta show me?" I asked, looking around. Prowl placed a single finger to his mouth and pointed. In the direction where he was pointing, the light from the first star to rise had reached the crystals, and they were starting to light up.

As the star gradually rose higher and higher, more and more light was reaching the crystals and being refracted. After just a few minutes, almost all of the crystals in front of me were refracting the light. The light shifted through the spectrum, running from reds all the way through to purples and pinks before returning to red again.

While during the day the crystals were rainbow and shimmered with the entire spectrum, right now they were only displaying two colours at a time.

I'd never seen anything quite like it.

I loved it.

I didn't notice when, but my jaw had fallen slack and my mouth was open in an 'O' shape.

"Do you like it?"

"Ah love it" I replied, grinning, "It's beautiful."

"I'm glad you like it."

He smiled at me, holding my hand.

We stayed like that until the crystals were showing the entire spectrum, shifting erratically in the star light.

* * *

My carrier was reluctant to let go of me. Goodbyes were always hard for her.

"Ah'm seein' ya again in two decacycles!" I protested, trying to prise the femme's hands from me. She was much stronger than she looked, and didn't move an inch.

"Too long, just indulge me for a few more klicks, okay?" She replied, giving me the most pathetic expression she could. I sighed, and she happily hugged me tighter.

Lord Smokescreen was just... _looking_ at us, an unreadable expression. It looked as if he was remembering something by seeing me being assaulted by my carrier.

She eventually tore herself away, planting a loud and incredibly wet kiss to my forehelm, pinching my cheek. "Be good." She instructed, smiling at me. She quickly glanced at Prowl, who was awkwardly standing next to his sire, doorwings rigid. "And tell me how good he is, yeah?" she winked at me cheekily before quickly joining my sire, who was animatedly talking to Lord Smokescreen, not that he appeared to be particularly interested in what he had to say.

That lewd wink she gave after just made it even worse. Like hell was I going to tell her what interfacing with Prowl was like! That was private!

And it wasn't as if we were even allowed to yet...

Prowl looked a little tired, and I wondered if he had slept at all that night. His Sire kept on shooting displeased glances his way during his conversation with Tempo, as if he were doing something wrong.

I quietly walked over to Prowl and gently slipped my hand into his, squeezing it slightly to bring him out of the daze he had fallen into. His lips twitched upwards slightly when we made eye contact, and he squeezed back.

It was weird in a way, being able to have physical contact with him. I was so used to having to make do with comm. and written communication it was starting to feel surreal.

I wasn't going to deny that I was indeed attracted to the mech. From his deep voice that boasted intelligence and power down to his childlike curiosity and his logical thinking, it was hard to say no to the mech.

::Tired?:: I comm.'d him.

::Admittedly.::

::Didn' ya sleep last night?:: I held back a chuckle.

::No. I still had some work to finish off.::

I almost pouted. I'd forgotten that Prowl worked as an enforcer. I hoped he had at least some time off these two decacycles, his sire wasn't exactly pleasant company.

::Do ya have ta work at all?::

::Just a few reports, but they won't take me long.::

I grinned, quickly aiming it at my carrier to make it look as if the exchange had never taken place. Besides being incredibly rude, we weren't supposed to have the others comm. and our creators were currently unaware we did – something we'd worked incredibly hard to keep a secret.

She grinned back, hand twitching as if she wanted to pinch my cheek again. Like _pit_. She'd humiliated me enough already!

It looked as if their conversation had driven to a close, as Rhythm turned to me and started brushing off imaginary dust.

"Be good, remember to say please and thank you and to go to bed on time-"

Prowl bit his bottom lip to stop himself from breaking out in a smile – or worse, laughing – while Lord Smokescreen raised his eyebrows slightly. Tempo walked forwards and slapped his hands over her mouth, effectively silencing her.

"We will see you in two decacycles, Jazz." He said, fighting back his accent that was clearly trying to break though. Two quick hugs and one more glomp from Rhythm later, they were back in the transport and leaving Praxus.

* * *

Prowl had decided that he really did need to recharge, and the moment he had sat down on the sofa in the living area of his quarters he was out like a light. This left me free to roam and snoop around his quarters.

So I did. It'd give me a good idea of what this mech was like. I mean, I did know him – we'd spent just as much time talking to each other than we did on our studies, which was saying something. But even then, it just didn't feel like enough to me.

I looked through his bookcase, finding many datapads on the history of Cybertron, law, politics, and strategy along with a lot of novels. The novels were mostly mystery, revolving around mysterious deaths, murders of disappearances. On the bottom shelf, hidden behind the other datapads, was a dusty novel. Curiosity got the better of me and I wiped it down, onlined it and skipped it to a random page to promptly discover why it had been shoved right to the back of the shelf, never to be found again.

If I thought some of my carriers' romance novels were highly erotic, I wouldn't stand a chance against a single page of this novel.

I quickly shoved it back, moving my attention onto more tame things such as the metal chess set on the desk.

It was a beautiful set, made out of metals I'd never seen so close. I was afraid to touch it in fear of tarnishing any of the pieces and the board. The metal looked like crystal, and the colours on it melded and blended together almost seamlessly. It was well polished, and I could clearly see my reflection in the pieces and the board.

There wasn't really much else in the room apart from a desk with a chair built for Praxians, a computer terminal and two stacks of datapads. One stack was much taller than the other. Upon closer inspection, I discovered that they were reports and the taller stack was the completed pile.

There were quite a few on that stack, and I wondered how many Prowl had completed while I recharged. I felt slightly guilty that while I was relaxing, he continued to work hard for the better of the population of Praxus. I remembered the day before with the conference and grit my teeth. He worked so hard to protect everyone and make sure that they got what they needed, but they were just throwing it back in his face.

I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard Prowl begin to stir, and I quickly ran over to his side and sat down, pretending to be just waking up as he came to. Being caught snooping around would be embarrassing, not to mention unattractive, and my carrier had already thoroughly embarrassed me earlier.

He blinked owlishly, his engine giving a sluggish rumble that sounded like a displeased groan. I smirked slightly at that – how adorable.

"G'mornin' Prowler" I teased, rubbing our noses together.

"Good morning Jazz" He sleepily replied, returning the gesture. We usually greeted the other via comm. when we both woke up, and it was mutually agreed that we wanted to say this face-to-face.

"Come on, Ah wanna go see the city!" I gently bounced on the sofa where I was sitting, pulling on Prowls arm. I was excited – Praxus! It was a beautiful city where everything was pristine white and glittery, organised and orderly. Very different to Polyhex, a city focused on music and culture. While it was organised into sectors, those sectors didn't have much in the way of organisation. It was easy for newcomers to get lost – and they often did. It was like a labyrinth!

Praxus, on the other hand, was a formidable opponent for those trying to get lost. You simply couldn't. It was very much like Prowls way of thinking – clear, concise and organised.

Prowl groaned and childishly rolled off the sofa, taking me down with him. He lay face-down on the floor for a while, and I thought he'd fallen back to sleep before he pushed himself up and helped me up off the floor, even though I didn't need it.

"Very well. Where would you like to go first?"

"What would ya suggest?"

"You enjoy music, correct?"

"Yeah"

He smiled at me before he started to leave the room. "I think you'll enjoy the Darbietung."

* * *

**Let me know what you thought!**

**Sorry it took so long, I can't freakin' write fluff & I had my prom. It's in my head; I just can't type it without wanting to start screeching (which I did).**

**~Llama**


	3. Chapter 3

**Units of time as I use them:**

**Klick – a second**

**Breem – a minute**

**Joor – an hour**

**Cycle – a day**

**Decacycle – 10 days**

**Groon – a month**

**Orn – a decade**

**Vorn – a century**

{bond chatter}

::Comm. chatter::

* * *

The Darbietung turned out to be a huge performing arts centre, bustling with life. There were buildings full of mechs and femmes alike singing, dancing and playing instruments, and others for selling records, datapads with sheet music and the like.

It was like a more condensed version of Polyhex with extra theatre.

It was mostly inside, with white marble-like flooring and a ceiling with lights made to mimic the night sky. It spread off into five directions like a giant star, with each section containing something different. From the right, it appeared to be Theaters, Music, Clubs, The Market place and Imports.

Prowl appeared to be content just watching me running around like a sparkling, occasionally pointing out places of interest to me. I took note of where certain clubs were – I wanted to visit them later on.

Much to my surprise, as we approached the area where mechs from other cities usually set up small stalls, I met a few of my friends from Polyhex.

I hadn't seen them in a while since they first started travelling around an orn ago, and I'd started to miss them a little.

"Blaster!" I shouted, running over to them, leaving Prowl to linger behind me. The red and yellow mech turned around, huge grin plastered on his face.

Blaster was a well known mech even outside of Polyhex, a famous singer. Behind him was Mirage, a towers mech. We had met through Blaster, and we all quickly clicked. Once you got past Mirages snotty attitude and disgust of even the thought of dust, he was a great mech to be around and we often went to each other when we needed comfort over the thought of arranged bonding.

Mirage was going to be in an arranged bond with a mech called Hound. I hadn't met him, but I sure had heard of him. He was an excellent tracker, and I thought it worked pretty well with Mirage's ability to turn invisible at the blink of an eye.

"Who's this?" Blaster asked, indicating Prowl, who stood not far off behind me, but not so far away that he would be lost in the crowd. He was currently studying some of the items on display in a nearby stall in the market.

"That's Prowler." I replied, smirking at the wide-eyed look on Mirage's face. I'd forgotten that these two didn't know I was to be bonded soon. It wasn't made common knowledge who was intended for whom – you found out when they bonded.

"_The_ Prowl?" Mirage asked, leaning in towards me so we weren't overheard. I nodded, and he smiled. "I thought he'd be taller."

"Raj, Ah barely reach his shoulder." I deadpanned. Prowler was tall, damn it! I was slightly jealous of his height.

"So this is the mech of mystery then, ey Jazz?" Blaster teased, poking my side.

"That's for meh ta know and ya to find out." I said playfully, Mirage looking smug that he knew.

Blaster laughed, and I just grinned at him.

::When should I expect a frantic comm.?:: Mirage asked.

::A groon from now.::

::I wish you all the best.::

::Thanks, Raj.::

While we started to move onto other topics, such as how Blasters performances had been going, if Mirage had found a better polish and if he knew if Hound had been up to anything, I lost sight of Prowl.

Prowl knew his way around Praxus, and although it was very easy to navigate in, if you didn't know the way you'd be a bit stuck, just like any other city.

I could easily ask around for directions and I admittedly was a very social 'bot however I didn't want to leave without Prowl and worry him. Blaster noticed my discomfort.

"What's on yo' mind?"

"Ah've lost Prowler" I meekly admitted. The pair looked around, and sure enough the black and white datsun was nowhere to be seen. The Darbietung was quite big. Scratch that, it was _huge_. Finding Prowl would be like finding a needle in a haystack. There were praxians _everywhere_, so just looking for a doorwinger was simply out of the question. I wanted to comm. him, but then the other two would discover that we had shared them, and I couldn't have that.

"I'm sure he'll be back soon." Mirage said, waving it away. "It's not as if he'd leave you on your own in an unfamiliar place."

I nodded, taking some comfort in that. I suddenly heard a high pitched shriek behind me and I moved just in time to miss the mob of people known as Blasters fans.

Mirage was nearly knocked over into another stall, looking a little miffed. I stifled my laughter to avoid him seeing my amusement at him getting shoved to the side. A Towers mech was certainly not used to that treatment, nor did they expect it from commoners.

I felt a hand fall on my shoulder.

"What's going on here?"

My helm snapped up so quickly something clicked and I saw that Prowl was back, and he didn't sound so pleased.

Almost immediately the praxians swarming Blaster stopped being so loud and backed away slightly, helms lowered and looking a little meek.

Blaster shot Prowl a thankful look before speaking up.

"Com'on mech, they jus' wanted a lil' chat." He said, although it was almost obvious to me that he was glad they were respecting his personal space now.

"They were causing a disturbance."

Despite Prowl not being on duty, he was still acting like an enforcer. Typical Prowler.

"Hey Prowler how 'bout ya let 'em off? Ah mean, Blaster ain't usually seen outta Polyhex. When're these kids gonna get ta Polyhex?"

Prowl looked a little annoyed at me using his nickname in public, which entertained me greatly, and he was quick to correct me.

"My name is Prowl."

Well, at least he appeared to be forgiving the fans. I just grinned at him, linking arms with him and starting to skip away.

"See ya 'round, 'Raj n' Blaster!"

"Later mech!"

"It was good to see you."

Prowl frowned at me, but he still allowed me to link arms with him. We got a _lot_ of strange looks and people just stared at us as if we were something exotic in a zoo; however I couldn't bring myself to care.

"Friends of yours?"

"Yeah, they're great once ya get ta know 'em."

Prowl hummed, also ignoring the looks we were receiving.

"Where'd ya go earlier?"

"I explored the market a bit more, It's not often I get the chance to come here."

"Is it always like this?"

"Much of the time, yes. We often have people like Blaster come here and perform."

"Blaster's performin'?!"

"Yes, I thought you knew?"

"We have ta go!"

"I'll see what I can do, he is rather popular."

I would have squealed in delight and started bouncing around if it weren't for the fact I was in public and Prowl was standing right next to me. If I were alone, I would have definitely done it.

"You're getting excited over this aren't you?"

I nodded, knowing that if I spoke it would likely be a garbled mess of high-pitched, fast paced rambling about Blaster that even his fans would be envious of how much I knew. The corners of his lips twitched upwards in an almost-there smile before he quickly schooled his features back to his neutral, emotionless facade. It was going to be hard getting used to that.

* * *

We'd been at the Darbietung for most of the day, as when we left again the stars were already starting to set. Prowl transformed, me following suit, and sped off back towards the crystal gardens.

When we got back, the crystals were a deep blue, and it made me feel as though I was underwater. Instead of going straight back to my quarters, I opted to walk through the gardens for a little while. Being this late, nobody else was here and they were closed to the general public. It was now entirely reserved for the nobles – I was well and truly alone.

That is, until I felt another presence behind me. Prowl fell into step beside me, loosely holding my hand. The blue light from the crystals made him look mysterious and almost god-like. The way they highlighted his frame reminded me that he was powerful and he knew it.

It was hot as _pit_.

Prowl speaking snapped me out of the daze I had fallen into.

"Your mouth is open."

It immediately snapped closed as I tried to come up with a witty remark. Prowl laughed, turning away slightly to hide the smile that threatened to split his face in half and I pouted. If he was making me feel all flustered and embarrassed, I sure as hell was going to return the favour.

When he wasn't looking, too busy trying to school his features away from that persistent and admittedly adorable smile and back to his usual neutral, I tackled him to the ground. He fell down with a yelp, immediately twisting so he wouldn't pin his doorwings. I ended up straddling his hips, grinning down at him. His faceplates were glowing slightly with energon.

"Jazz! What're you-mmph!"

He was already flustered, but why stop there? Before he could go off on a tangent I had pressed a quick kiss to his lips. I was glad that he was currently on the floor, as if we were still standing I would have had to stand on the tips of my pedes and would likely fall over.

Curse his height.

Prowl stared at me blankly before he got a devious glint in his optics and placed a hand on the back of my helm, pulling me forwards. Lips melding together again, my visor offlined without a command and my hands cupped his face, deepening the kiss. When we broke away again, we were both panting heavily from the lack of air and it wasn't just Prowl who had a heated faceplate.

Well, at least I wasn't the only one feeling embarrassed.

"Ya jus' shouldn't look so damn good."

Prowl bit his lip and his doorwings twitched upwards. "On the contrary."

"Doesn't anyone ever tell ya that?"

"I don't get complimented too often."

I couldn't imagine why. I noticed that the light from the crystals was starting to fade, and Prowl quickly wriggled out from under me and stood up, pulling me up with him.

"We'd better get back, it's hard to navigate in the dark. Headlights don't work."

"Why not?"

"They act like mirrors, you won't see what's in front of you until you walk into it."

We quickly latched onto each other as we ran, not wanting to get separated. Despite how scary the concept of being lost in a pitch black maze with only the light of the waning crescent moon above us to light the way, we couldn't help but giggle like sparklings when we finally got back. We were both sat by the door, clinging to each other and just laughing.

We both sounded so overcharged, when really we were just exhausted with too much adrenaline running through us from our late night escapade. Eventually, we decided to get up and go back to my quarters, where we both flopped down onto the berth and fell into recharge.

* * *

**Kinda short chapter, but hey, I updated right?**

**Sorry if there are any mistakes, this was all written on my phone and it's difficult to spot them.**

**Darbietung roughly translates into 'entertainment', 'tis German.**

**~Llama**


	4. Chapter 4

**Shield your eyes, for the last section is what gave this fic its 'M' rating.**

**Units of time as I use them:**

**Klick – a second**

**Breem – a minute**

**Joor – an hour**

**Cycle – a day**

**Decacycle – 10 days**

**Groon – a month**

**Orn – a decade**

**Vorn – a century**

{bond chatter}

::Comm. chatter::

* * *

"G'mornin Prowler" I mumbled into his shoulder. I'd almost forgotten how we ended up recharging together, and it wasn't something I was eager to forget. The events of the previous night were surprisingly fun, although I didn't want to race around in poorly-lit maze anytime soon.

"Morning Jazz" Prowl sleepily replied, stretching his doorwings out behind him. While I was mesmerised by them, he stood up and continued stretching. He was either completely oblivious to how _good_ he looked, or he was doing this on purpose. I got up too, although I didn't stretch. No, I'd do that in the washracks.

We lazily ambled into the washracks, turned on the shower and waited for the cleanser to warm up. Once it was warm enough, we both slipped in under the spray. Knowing full-well that the cleanser was glistening and running down me, highlighting all of the right places, I stretched my arms upwards, showing off. When I looked at Prowl again after, feeling a lot more awake and energised after my wake-up stretch, he was busy putting solvent on a rag. He didn't even _see_ it. He glanced up at me innocently.

"What?"

"Nothin'."

* * *

"So, what's tha plan fer today?"

"I managed to secure tickets to see Blaster this afternoon. You're free to do as you wish until then."

I immediately leapt forwards, wrapping my arms around his neck and giving him a heated kiss. I was so happy and excited I couldn't even begin to explain it – I was seeing Blaster! Prowl returned it, wrapping his arms around me, clearly pleased that he'd made a good move.

"What're ya doin' today?"

"I have a meeting with my sire and diffusion practice, but after that I am free."

I nodded, smiling. I'd seen Prowl in diffusion practice before, when we were younglings, and he was _good_ at it. I wonder if they still practice in the same place? I'd found a spot in the library that gave a perfect view of the group practicing and sparring together.

Prowl released his hold on me, quietly murmuring that the meeting started soon and I released him too, allowing him to leave. I now had free reign until I was with Prowl again. I didn't know how long that meeting would last, and I decided not to risk it. Library it was.

* * *

The library was just as huge as I remembered it, stretching up so high you couldn't see the top. There were row upon row of datapads, some older than the building itself and others newer than the days sunrise. I saw the steps leading up to the second floor, and I quickly ran up them, locating the window seat tucked away behind a corner, hidden from prying optics. I took a datapad fromm the shelf, something about ancient Cybertron, and I made myself comfortable by the window.

I onlined the pad and started reading it. It was all myth and legend surrounding Primus and the original thirteen, and The Fallen. I'd heard about The Fallen before from my creators. A Prime who'd turned his back on Primus and paid heavily for it. It was when I reached the fallen Vosians that m interest was really captured. Vos and Praxus were linked, and according to this, Praxians were Vosians who had 'lost their wings'. There were pictures and diagrams of what the doorwings used to look like, and Primus were they stunning. They were joined to their backs in the same place, however instead of being roughly rectangular in shape and acting as doors to their alternate modes they hooked down like scythes and reached their knees – ankles in the femmes, strangely – and were separated into five segments. They reminded me of an organic creature from another planet – I think it was called a bird?

The bird-like wings made them look, quite simply, like angles. Over time, the wings had evolved into the rectangular shapes they are today. It was a bit of a shame really, as those wings really did look beautiful.

I was distracted from my reading by the sound of metal striking metal outside. I looked out the window and nearly cheered – I could see Prowler! He was correcting the stance of a younger noble, teaching them how to properly parry. The younglings wings were fluttering, showing their annoyance at not being able to correctly parry. It was almost cute. Prowl had a look of absolute concentration on his face, gently nudging them into the correct position and saying something to them. I couldn't hear what, but it seemed to help the youngling as when Prowl stepped away to allow the younglings sparring partner to attack, they correctly parried it.

He patted the youngling on the shoulder before moving on to help the other younglings. It looked as though he were assisting with this class, and not actually practicing himself. It was slightly disappointing, as I was looking forward to seeing Prowl spar, but I wasn't disappointed. Prowl looked kinda cute surrounded by young praxians, and he honestly was quite good with them. The thought of Prowl one day being a sire to one made me want to curl up into a ball and scream. It sounded adorable!

I watched them until the session was dismissed. As soon as the mech who appeared to be leading the class sent everyone away, Prowls optics immediately snapped up and met with my own. How long did he know I was watching for?! It was almost creepy.

::Would you like to leave now? We'll have a joor to see the area beforehand.::

::Sure thing.::

* * *

As we were leaving the venue after Blasters performance, I noticed that the Praxians were staying much further away from each other than usual. Non-doorwingers who were with them also gave them a wider berth – I wonder why?

My question was still answered when I accidentally brushed against Prowl wing. I didn't notice a step, too caught up in my own thoughts about why they were doing this, and I stumbled, throwing my arms out. Prowl was quick to help me adjust again, but made a strange strangled noise when I touched the extra limb. I gave him a questioning look, slightly worried that I'd hurt him by accident.

"I'm fine. Doorwings are more sensitive after long periods of loud noise."

_That_ explained the larger personal bubbles.

"How long does it last?"

"It depends. This'll only last a couple joor at most for me, however."

I only had a couple of joor to take the most advantage of this extra sensitivity. How likely was it that Prowl would race me back?

"We should probably hurry with getting back, the Lord wishes to see my in three joors."

"Ah'll race ya."

Prowl gave me a strange look. "I'm not racing you."

"Please?"

"It's illegal and childish." I pouted. Trust Prowl to bring the law into this. It wasn't as if he'd never broken any!

"Party pooper."

"It's my job."

I transformed, engine idling as I waited for him to follow suit and drove back to the palace.

* * *

Once we were back, we returned to Prowls quarters. I was slightly surprised when he invited me in with him, expecting to be set loose like earlier today.

"I have to meet my sire in two joors, and I fully intend to spend that time with you."

I felt myself melting at that, following him down onto the sofa and nestling myself into his side. I almost forgot about the whole doorwing thing until he shuffled uncomfortably, a pillow rubbing against it.

Devious grin in place, I gently ran my hand down the entire length, drawing a full-body shudder from Prowl. He gave me a quizzical look.

"What're you doing?"

"Ah'm curious." I replied, doing it again but with a firmer stroke this time. Prowl shuddered again, biting his bottom lip. His optics dimmed slightly and his fans clicked on, but he didn't protect. So I continued.

I gently rubbed my entire hand over the surface of a wing, massaging the surface. Prowl gripped tightly onto the sofa, pressing his wing into my hand and arching his back slightly. He bit down harder on his lip, barely restraining a moan.

Apparently, this felt incredibly good to him. When I reached over and started playing with his other wing, he released a strained cry, back arching and electricity crackling over his frame. The unmistakeable sound of a mech overloading filled the room. My work here was done.

While he was recovering from his high, panting slightly, I pecked him on the lips and curled back up into his side.

I needed to think of a proper way to thank him for taking me to the performance. It wasn't often I got to see Blaster – he usually asks that me and Mirage don't go because we make him feel nervous while performing and he thinks he messes up because of it. Needless to say, I loved the concerts I went to regardless – especially this one. I didn't know why he got nervous as we were just other guests.

Prowl growled, twisting around and pushing me down onto the sofa. He was looming over me, a wicked look in his eye with a devious grin to match. He was in a _very_ good mood if he was actually _grinning_. It was admittedly very attractive and I wanted to see more expressions like this on the mech.

"That, was naughty."

The only warning I had that there was imminent danger were his doorwings flicking once before he pounced, digging his fingers in under my plating before he _wriggled_ them.

It...

It tickled!

I was almost in tears of laughter, grabbing onto Prowls arms and trying to push him away.

"Prowl, please no! Stop!"

He just started tickling me more, making my legs kick out and flail. I was _never _good with being tickled. How did he know?!

"Prowlleerrr!" I whined, wriggling around to try and escape. Prowl laughed, giving one last wiggle before stopping his tickling assault. He drew his fingers out from my sides and pressed a kiss to my forehelm.

"I need to go now."

I sighed, releasing my grip on his arms and allowing him to move away. He gave me an apologetic look before he left.

I must have looked like a pleasure bot, sprawled out on the sofa, face flushed and panting heavily. I wasn't going to deny that Prowl looming over me with his fingers in between my plating and a deliciously evil expression on his face was hot as pit, and it left an uncomfortable heat in between my legs. I stayed there for a few clicks, willing it to go away, however it stubbornly stayed. There was nothing that I could do that wouldn't be embarrassing or awkward if I were caught to get rid of it. I could either leave it and continue as if nothing was wrong, and possibly have my cooling fans turn on or have it get _even worse_, or I would spend twenty breems in a washrack and be done with it and hope that nobody comes in.

I opted for the latter, quickly getting up and almost sprinting into the washracks. I had no idea when Prowl would be back – these meetings could last for mere breems or go on for joors – I desperately wanted it last for a while. It would be down-right _humiliating_ to be caught red-handed by him!

I turned on the cleanser in the event that he _did_ come back so that he wouldn't be able to hear as well, and I retracted back my panel.

Cooling fans clicking on, I stepped under the spray. I ran my hands down my sides, tickling the sensors there and sending pleasant tingles across my neural net. When I reached my hips, I gently pushed my fingers in and stroked the wires I found. I moaned, the sound echoing around the room. My knees felt like jelly and I slowly sank down to the floor, spike bobbing slightly with the movement.

I snaked my hands over my thighs, teasing myself, before one hand reached up to stroke an audial horn and the other wrapped itself firmly around my spike. I was about to slowly start pumping my hand along the length when I heard the door to Prowls quarters open.

Fragging frag, why was this sounding more and more like a cheap romance novel?! I held my breath, willing Prowl not to come in and see me kneeling under the spray of cleanser with my interface array bared for the world to see.

He must have taken that since the cleanser was running, I was in the washrack and he didn't come in to check. I slumped in relief – as much as I would be a sight to see for Prowl I didn't want him to see me like this. I really _would_ look like a pleasure bot. We hadn't seen each other since we were nearly out of our youngling frames, breaching into our teenage – that was at least five vorns ago! It would be awkward as slag.

When I was sure he wasn't going to come in, struggling to ignore the insistent twinge of my spike as it begged for attention, I continued.

I had to bite down on my lip _hard _when Prowl started taking in the other room. He must have been on a comm. call or something, as he was giving orders in a tone that was deeper and much more commanding than his usual one, and fraggit it was doing something fierce to me. I pumped my spike faster, hips jerking slightly and offlined my visor so I could concentrate on the sensation of having my spike rubbed and the sound of Prowls voice.

My back arched and helm thrown back against the wall, I thumbed the slit at the tip and my mouth fell open in a silent cry of pleasure. Oh _pit_ this felt _wonderful_. Very soon, I was relentlessly chasing my overload. I gasped, quickly biting down on my hand to muffle any other noises I'd make as I finally overloaded.

As I leaned back against the wall, recovering from my release, the cleanser washed away all traces and evidence. I closed my panels and shut off the cleanser, content to just sit in the shower cubicle for a bit longer.

When I onlined my visor again, I saw that Prowl was standing in the doorway, watching me with a concerned expression. My faceplates heated up almost immediately – frag! Did he see?! Was I being too noisy?

"Are you alright?" He asked, walking in and kneeling next to me, pressing his forehelm to mine to check my temperature. I quickly nodded, trying hard not to blush. I spotted something behind him that looked suspiciously like transfluid and forced myself to not react. It was times like these when I praised Primus for the creation of a visor – no one knows where I'm looking. And so, the suspicious stain remained undetected.

"Ah'm fine, just a lil' hot. What did Smokescreen want?"

"Lord Smokescreen wanted to inform me that my twin is returning for a short period of time."

"Ya have a twin?!"

"Yes. His name is Smokescreen."

* * *

**(O u O)**

**Forgive me father for I have sinned.**

**From this point forward, to avoid confusion, 'Lord Smokescreen' is Prowls sire and 'Smokescreen' is his twin. If in doubt, if there's no 'Lord' in front of it, it's Prowls twin.**

**Can you tell I love ticklish Jazz yet? (It's appeared in like loads of my stories)**

**~Llama**


	5. Chapter 5

**Back from America! Sorry for the delay~**

**Units of time as I use them:**

**Klick – a second**

**Breem – a minute**

**Joor – an hour**

**Cycle – a day**

**Decacycle – 10 days**

**Groon – a month**

**Orn – a decade**

**Vorn – a century**

{bond chatter}

::Comm. chatter::

* * *

Two cycles later, Smokescreen arrived. The two cycles without Prowls twin brother were spent mostly exploring Praxus. Prowl was quick to show me the layout of the city, and I soon learned where everything was.

I had met Smokescreen only once before, however I was not aware of this. His alt. mode was identical to Prowls, making their frames incredibly similar in shape. He was red and blue, sporting a yellow chevron and a 38 on both doorwings. When the two were younger, Prowl was at least a few inches shorter than his twin. Now, however, he was slightly taller. Smokescreen sounded a little disgruntled at this fact, and he passed it off as him being heavier. Which he was. I had no idea what he did for a living, however it was clear it required physical strength. While Prowl was strong enough to hold his own in a fight and chase after criminals, Smokescreen had more bulk to him and was incredibly well built. I didn't want to get on his bad side – just one of his hands looked enough to hand my aft to me.

Despite only meeting Smokescreen once before, when we were all still younglings, I had heard a lot about him. He was well known in Polyhex for being a great gambler and liking a good paintjob. He was often a prominent character in social gatherings, formal and informal, with his cheery attitude and laid-back nature. Overall, he was admittedly good looking and his voice was incredibly pleasant to listen to and the only bone I had to pick with him was his optics. They looked incredibly similar to Prowls, so much so I had to double take when I first saw them. The second look was enough to split them apart. While both were piercing and felt as if they were looking through you when they stared, Smokescreens felt void of anything. It was as if he were an empty shell. It made me incredibly uncomfortable and I couldn't maintain eye contact with him for long, visor or not.

The three of us were sitting in a part of the crystal gardens that had been split off from the rest. It hosted crystals that had branched off the most, imitating trees that are found on distant planets rumoured to be home to carbon-based life. We all had a cube of high grade each, something that Smokescreen had bought on his travels. He claimed that he had bought it specially for his return to Praxus, and that he was eager to get the chance to talk to me again after vorns of no contact whatsoever. Prowl shuffled uncomfortably when he announced the last part.

I was aware of how protective Prowl was over things he considered important to him or his, but getting this antsy over his _twin_? That was just too much.

In order to prove that catching up with your fiancés twin was nothing to be worried about, I relaxed back into my chair and tried my hardest to ignore the way Smokescreens optics bore into my own, as if he were looking straight through my visor and to my optics.

It was incredibly uncomfortable, to say the least, but I somehow managed it. I kept my attention trained on him the entire time.

After a couple of joors of animated chattering, filled with life stories that made me cringe or laugh, Prowl suddenly stood up. I jumped slightly, looking up at him so quickly my neck clicked. I ignored the uncomfortable sensation it caused in favour of watching Prowl.

"I'm sorry, I have to go." He said, bowing slightly and tilting his doorwings in respect. He had a look in his optics that I'd never seen before. He looked distant.

I didn't like it.

"Prowler?"

"My name is Prowl." He automatically replied, doorwings jerking upwards before returning to their neutral position. "I will see you later, Smokescreen." He said, nodding at him. As he turned to leave, he placed a quick peck onto my helm before swiftly striding away. He looked... annoyed.

"What's crawled up his aft and died?" Smokescreen said, laughing good-naturedly. I nearly missed the rude sign Prowl threw at him as he picked up his pace, and I had to bite back a chortle.

::Talk to meh Prowler::

::Later::

He cut off the comm. before I could continue. Rude.

"What do you like about my brother?" Smokescreen suddenly asked. He was leaning forwards now, hands clasped together with his chin resting on them. His elbows were braced on the table that separated us.

"Wha' do ya mean?" I was genuinely confused. His sudden question had thrown me – it had come completely and entirely out of the blue.

"What is it that you like about him? He's not exactly a liked bot."

I was slightly shocked at that and it took all of my hard earned grace to not show that it was a shocking question. "Not liked?" How could Prowl be disliked? I know he was a little cold at times and he disliked showing emotion in public (he was quite expressionate when he was absolutely certain we were alone) but he hadn't given me any reason to dislike him. I _hated_ the fact he was a stubborn glitch about showing how he felt, but he hadn't been anything but kind to me. He had yet to give me a reason to feel awkward in his presence.

Unlike Smokescreen. Although it was not his fault, his optics were _really_ starting to make me feel nervous. The way he just blankly stared at me was unnerving at best, and I felt as if he was looking into my mind, stealing memories.

For a horrible moment I worried if he'd found out that me and Prowl had shared comm. number. If anyone found out, we were over. We'd never be allowed to see each other again.

"No. He's a cold aft. He doesn't get the meaning of 'fun' –I don't think he can even _say_ it."

I immediately remembered the night when we were running through the crystal gardens in the dark, tripping over and laughing so hard it began to hurt. While alone, that would have been more terrifying than a high-budget horror movie. With Prowl? Hilarious. It was fun, exciting and one of the highlights of my life so far. I didn't believe Smokescreen. Not for one second.

"I don't see where ya comin' from." I replied, trying not to sound too cold. Smokescreen shrugged.

"You'll see."

* * *

As it turned out, Prowl had left because he was receiving a comm. from the enforcers at Altihex. Their chief enforcer had met what they described to be a 'grisly end', and they'd lost most of their command staff. They were holding well enough on their own, but they'd need him to go to Altihex in a decacycle to helm them iron out the kinks. Prowl didn't know how long this could potentially take.

He wasn't telling me how they had all been deactivated – confidentiality, apparently – and he said that even if he was allowed to he wouldn't want to. He did look slightly pale, and if I listened closely I could hear his tanks gurgling in a way that suggested he felt like he was going to purge.

Smokescreen appeared to spend most of his time with his sire, talking to him about what he'd been doing during the groons he was gone and what he'd found out. I was listening in on their conversation from a spot I'd found in the library. It was almost directly above Lord Smokescreens office, and if I lay down with my audial pressing against the floor I could hear what they were saying. I pretended to be reading the same datapad I was the other day while I was watching Prowl practice his diffusion and I nearly dropped it when I suddenly heard strange sounds from the room below me.

It took me a moment to realise that they were speaking in an older version of cybertronian. I had only ever heard my grand-creators use it, and dark looking characters in backstreet alleys. As it was so old and apparently dying out, I'd never been taught it. Asking my grand-creators to teach me ended up with a harsh scolding and being sent to my quarters to 'think about what I'd done'. I had resigned to the fact that I'd never learn it.

I still felt uncomfortable while it was being spoken. My creators understood it, being raised by people who were fluent in it, but they never spoke it. So, my grand-creators took to talking about me in that language. Hearing it gave me an underlying feeling that they were talking about me – and that they weren't being pleasant. I knew that it was stupid and that they weren't but there was a nagging feeling at the back of my mind.

I quietly slipped away from the spot I was in, returning to the window that overlooked the practice fields. After turning back to my datapad, I fell asleep and woke up again when somebody was gently shaking me awake. I blearily onlined my visor to see Prowl kneeling next to me, the datapad I was reading in his hand.

"You fell asleep." He said, subspacing the datapad. He helped me up, and we quietly walked back to my quarters. Prowl stopped outside my door, and he didn't come in. "I'll see you tomorrow." He told me, gently taking hold of one of my hands and kissing the back of it. I looked at him questioningly and he quickly glanced to both sides before he leaned forwards to whisper in my audial.

"It's too dangerous. Smokescreen is hard to get things past. If he knows something, it's safe to assume my sire does."

Compelling argument. If Lord Smokescreen knew that we'd been recharging together, regardless of the fact it wasn't anything beyond that, this whole engagement would be called off. Something neither of us wanted to happen. Beyond being humiliating for both sets of creators, it would create a massive scandal that wouldn't be easy to squash down and we'd never be allowed to even look at each other again. Both of us hated the strict rules that arranged bonds were under, but we had to appear to abide by them.

I reluctantly nodded, allowing him to leave and return to his quarters. My own looked strangely empty without someone else in there with me; however I could live with it. It had only been four cycles that we'd actually recharged together – nothing massive. I lumbered into my washracks, washing myself off from the days grime before quickly drying myself and hopping into my berth. I hovered between consciousness and recharge, unable to settle on either. Something was missing.

There wasn't any warmth next to me. It was cold. I sighed, curling into myself, desperately wanting to curl up to someone – Prowl, in particular – right now. I knew moments like these all too well. When I was younger, barely out of my sparkling frame, I'd often have night terrors or bad memory fluxes, whatever you wanted to fall them. My creators were always the ones I went to, and most of the time they'd let me clamber in and lay either side of me, protecting me from the outside world. As I got older, they stopped letting me do that and told me to just go back to berth.

Silently accepting the fact I wasn't going to be recharging with someone to leech the warmth out of, I ex-vented and tried to get into a comfier position.

* * *

**I am functioning on less than 4 hours sleep in two days ****_ahahhaaaaaaaaa_**

**Delirious doesn't quite cut it.**

**Also, is expressionate even a word? I've heard it being used before but according to my spell check it isn't.**

**~Llama**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry this took so freakin' long. I'm an awful person. While I was trying to write this, I spent at least 80% of the time laying on the floor singing 'amazing grace' badly out of tune/time. A feat made even more impressive because I don't actually know all of the words.**

**This would have been beta'd by my amazing beta however I already felt terrible enough making you guys wait around a month so it hasn't. Any and all mistakes are my fault.**

**Units of time as I use them:**

**Klick – a second**

**Breem – a minute**

**Joor – an hour**

**Cycle – a day**

**Decacycle – 10 days**

**Groon – a month**

**Orn – a decade**

**Vorn – a century**

{bond chatter}

::Comm. chatter::

* * *

The very next cycle, I woke up to a knocking on my door. Prowl was standing there, regal as ever, looking pretty well rested. On the flip side, I still felt like slag.

"May I come in?"

I stepped aside, stifling a yawn. Prowl bit back a laugh, amusement dancing in his optics. "Someone's tired." He teased as he walked in.

Nodding sleepily, I glanced towards my bed. I was tempted to clamber back in – one small little nap wouldn't hurt, would it? "Ah didn' get ta recharge until abou' six joors ago."

"I'm sorry for disturbing you, would you like me to leave?"

"No! No, ya're good."

He nodded before gently leading me backwards towards my berth. "At least sit down."

We both sat down, and I quickly cuddled up to his side. He was _so warm_! How was he always so damn toasty? He'd work better than a thermal blanket any day.

I was starting to fall back into recharge again when Prowl gently shook me. "Don't go back into recharge. My brother wishes to meet us out by the practice field in a few joor."

"Wha' for?" I mumbled, trying to shake recharge away. I was still tired, used to getting more sleep than around six joors worth, and I was envious of Prowl. How come he hadn't had any problems?!

"He wishes to spar with me. He says that he met a master in diffusion while he was away and wants to see if he improved while in their care."

"Do ya think he has?"

"No. There's a low probability of that happening."

"Why does he want me to be there?"

"Probably to show off, he's a flashy mech when he wants to be."

"Well, Ah'll just have ta award the winner then, wont Ah?"

"And what would that be?"

"Somethin' Ah'll deny ya all day till ya beat his aft inta the ground."

"Tease."

I just smirked at him.

* * *

Smokescreen was already at the field waiting for us. He looked shinier than he was yesterday and any bumps and scrapes he had were now gone. He greeted us cheerily before he handed a metal pole to Prowl. He himself was holding a similar one. It looked suspiciously like the ones the younglings were using while they were practising, only longer.

"As we're only sparring, we'll just use these. Is that good with you?" Smokescreen said, balancing his pole on one finger.

"Perfect." Prowl replied, starting to walk away from his twin. When he walked past me, he gave me a gentle nudge that told me I should also start moving. Smokescreen nodded, also starting to move backwards. When they decided that enough space was between them, they took on a stance. I couldn't tell if they were offence or defence, never having studied diffusion (metallikato was more Polyhex's style) however I knew that this wasn't going to be like a younglings sparring session. Finding a crystal to perch on, I got comfy and carefully watched them.

I couldn't tell who made the first move and it looked as though they started at the same time. I could hear the clangs of the poles as they collided, a strike being successfully blocked, and the grunts of pain as a strike hit its target. As to who was hitting who I had no idea. They were moving faster than I had expected and the pole was confusing – metallikato was somewhat _slower_ and the absence of weapons made it easier to track movements.

Everything suddenly became very clear when someone's knees hit the floor.

Prowl. It was Prowl.

As little about diffusion as I knew, I knew that knees hitting the floor is a loss. I hoped that this match was a best of three as there was no _way_ I was going to award _Smokescreen_. As lovely the guy was, he wasn't Prowl. Smokescreen relaxed and took on a pose that suggested he was going to gloat about his win, hoever Prowl rolled back onto the balls of his pedes and swiped at his twins knees, successfully knocking him down.

"Best of three, correct?" Prowl calmly stated as his twin glared at him. Grumpily, Smokescreen nodded and the pair stood up before jumping away to create some distance before they started the third and final round. I hoped that Prowl won. He told me that he would.

It started much like the first time; however they were being much more vicious. I could hear _growling_ coming from someone which was admittedly incredibly funny, but there were also more hits landing. I was worried that someone was going to get hurt and was about to stand up to try and get them to slow down a little until I heard someone's knees hitting the ground.

Smokescreen.

Smokescreen was kneeling.

I as far too happy about that. Feigning the indifference that I had to, I walked towards the pair.

"Well done Prowler."

"My name is Prowl." He automatically corrected and I fought back a laugh. Smokescreen watched us both with a strange expression. I wondered what it meant.

* * *

Back in Prowls quarters, I applied salve to Prowls doorwings as they'd gained a few painful scrapes from the sparring session from Smokescreen. While they'd heal on their own, they'd be painful and the sensory feedback from them would be overwhelming. I was sitting down on the edge of the sofa, pot of salve open next to me, while Prowl sat down on the floor by my feet so I could get to his doorwings easily. I didn't realise I was humming a song until Prowl asked.

"What song is that?"

"Hmm?"

"The one you're humming. I recognise it."

"It's one meh Carrier used ta sing ta meh when Ah was a sparklin'."

"It's nice."

"She used ta sing it when Ah was ill. It made meh feel better."

We continued on in a comfortable silence, and Prowls doorwings started to twitch and move with the changes in pitch and with the beat. I suppressed a laugh – he didn't even realise he was doing it.

"Yah're cute when ya do that."

"When I do what?" His doorwings stilled.

"Th' thing with ya doorwings."

"I am not 'cute'" Prowl huffed, crossing his arms childishly across his chassis.

"Ah beg to differ" I mumbled into his helm, brushing a chaste kiss to it. "Now, as ya were a biiig brave mech today n' beat ya twin inta th' ground fer meh, Ah have ta give ya somethin'."

"And what would that be?"

I gently tilted back his helm and pressed a chaste kiss to his lip plates. Prowl immediately turned around the moment I broke contact and continued it, wrapping his arms around me so I was held flush against him. I looped my arms around his neck and pushed more into the contact, desperate to get as much out of this as I could.

Smokescreen was expecting to meet us again in less than half a joor. I hated that we now worked under such time constraints, where previously we were free to do as we wished when we wished and for however long as we wanted. My lips moved against his, glossas tangling together. When Prowls hands roamed lower than was socially acceptable, I gave a gentle bite on his bottom lip. He gasped and pulled away, quickly licking over where I had bitten. I laughed at the completely confused look he gave me. Oh, he was so easy to confuse.

He wasn't concentrating on what my hands were doing, and his doorwings shot up when I started massaging the joints, optics flashing in surprise. He quickly relaxed into my touch and started purring, resting his helm on my shoulder and allowing his doorwings to flop down into their neutral position. They were minutely twitching, radiating content. When he started to lean into me as if he was falling into recharge, I gently shook him.

"We should probably go see ya brother." Prowl nodded sleepily, letting me go and picking up the pot of salve and closing it. He placed it on a nearby shelf, planning to put it away properly later, before moving to the door of his quarters.

"He may be bitter that he lost."

"It'll be funny."

Prowl rolled his optics, offering his arm to me. We linked arms and left together, walking down to where we had all sat down and talked together yesterday.

* * *

The next eight cycles passed in very much the same way. We would wake up, Smokescreen would ask to see us, and we would all do something together (which most of the time ate up the entire day) before returning to our quarters and recharging until we woke up again. Smokescreen had challenged Prowl again, but he had lost. I couldn't help but feel a sense of pride in my Prowler, putting his naughty little brother in his place.

But now, on the fifteenth cycle of my stay in Praxus, Prowl had to leave to go to Altihex and help get them back on track.

I didn't want him to go.

In any other situation, he wouldn't be allowed to. He would have had to remain in Praxus with me and fulfil the requirements prior to the bond. However, as his twin was in Praxus, he was allowed to leave and there was nothing that could make him stay. Prowls sense of duty won out here.

I was already starting to feel a little envious of his job. I was envious of something that wasn't even _physical_ and yet I couldn't bring myself to care. How annoying, I couldn't even _glare_ at it.

"Promise ya'll be back soon?"

"As soon as I can."

I nodded, accepting the kiss he gave me before standing back and allowing him to leave. He didn't move from where he was and instead watched me with scheming optics. "I don't have to leave for another joor or so." He said, starting to push me backwards. The backs of my legs connected with the berth and I fell down onto it with a sound of surprise. I leaned up on my elbows, pedes on the floor, about to demand what he was doing when he simply pushed me back down onto the berth and silenced me by covering my mouth with his own.

"Relax." He quietly murmured into my audial before slowly making his way down my body, leaving a trail of kisses down my frame until he reached down in between my legs.

What was he going to do?

He slipped his fingers into the joint where my thighs met my hips while mouthing my panel, licking up its entire length before turning and nuzzling into a joint, sucking on a cable. His fingers moved around and were caressing cables as he did this. I didn't know what he planning on doing, but whatever it was it undeniably felt _good_.

I bit down on my hand to stop myself from making any noises, however I couldn't stop the twitches, shudders or arcs my body gave that betrayed how I was feeling.

"Prowl" I breathily gasped, pushing down into him. My free hand scrabbled around uselessly until it found his helm and pulled him closer. Prowl rumbled appreciatively and turned his attentions back to my panel again, sucking around the edges and nuzzling it. "Open."

I didn't need to be told twice.

My panel snapped open to reveal my fully pressurised spike and Prowl wasted no time in pressing kisses along its length, starting at the base and all the way up to the tip. He licked it from the base, and when he was at the tip he took it into his mouth and swirled his glossa. I barely managed to muffle a moan with my hand, helm falling back against the berth and visor shuttering in pleasure. Ooooh, _Primus_ how was he doing this?

Were we even allowed to?

I found myself not caring when he had taken my entire length into his mouth and had started sucking, caressing my spike with his glossa. I was incredibly grateful that he was holding my thighs and hips down, as if he wasn't I was almost certain that I would be spasming wildly. While one of my hands were still firmly plastered over my mouth, muffling my cries and moans, my other hand was still clutching Prowls helm.

My back arched in a way that looked painful and I suddenly overloaded, the charge like liquid fire and white hot. Prowl choked slightly, not expecting it. Still trembling from the sensation and from aftershocks, I sat up.

"Primus Prowler Ah'm sorry" I quickly stuttered, faceplates glowing with embarrassment. Prowl shook his helm, nudging my hands away while he licked his lips, cleaning away the fluids that had escaped in his surprise.

"There's nothing to be sorry about." He replied, linking our digits together and kissing my forehelm. "I'll comm. you."

"You'd better." I replied, looking down at his chassis. I started and nearly laughed at what I saw. Prowl looked confused until he also looked down. His faceplate flushed red for a moment before he quickly took a cloth out of his subspace. "How on Cybertron did that get there?" He quietly muttered as he wiped it away. I stifled my laughter with my now free hand. I really _had_ taken him by surprise if it had dribbled down and off his chin.

Moment ruined, we both just looked at each other and laughed instead before Prowl pressed a quick kiss to my lips, pulling away before it could turn into anything more and left.

* * *

**You will not believe what scene gave me the most grief (Hint – it wasn't the last one!). Like, goodness I've written scenes that are WORSE than that which were a breeze and yet I still sat there, quite literally for ****_days_****, having no idea how to go about it.**

**I don't even ****_understand._**

**~Llama**


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry this took so long! With getting a new computer, battling bunnies that didn't want to cooperate and fighting off other, more personal, matters It was hard to find the time to get this written. Experimental is being a spoilt child again *grumbles***

**Yet again unbeta'd because I honestly have no idea how to put these files into an email like how do I even find the damn thing (I'M SORRY BETA ;A;)**

**Units of time as I use them:**

**Klick – a second**

**Breem – a minute**

**Joor – an hour**

**Cycle – a day**

**Decacycle – 10 days**

**Groon – a month**

**Orn – a decade**

**Vorn – a century**

{bond chatter}

::Comm. chatter::

* * *

Prowl had left mid-cycle, so I still had a few joors to burn before I had to recharge again. I hadn't seen Smokescreen all cycle as he was speaking with his Sire, the Lord of Praxus, and I was feeling quite alone. It was a strange feeling – I'd been with someone almost constantly my entire stay in Praxus and now I was suddenly alone.

To remedy that, I decided to go down to the Darbietung and see who was performing there. If I could, I would get a ticket and listen to them.

Getting around was easy in Praxus. For starters, nobody batted an eyelid at seeing me strolling around. Nobles weren't in a highly-regarded position of power right now – the Prime and his family would be swarmed at all times, however other nobles like myself would be noticed but not badgered. Unless they were a Noble enthusiast. In which case you would be treated like Primus himself. Reporters usually stopped you and asked a few questions before shooting off to their next target.

The decacycle before bonding was a different story and you would be _swarmed_, however the fact I was to be bonded soon wasn't known outside of the council, Prowls family, my own and Mirage. That would change in just 5 cycles. Might as well enjoy the silence while I could.

* * *

As I expected, the Darbietung was swarming with activity. The markets were full of mech's furiously trying to sell their wares, waving lavishly decorated items at me and rattling away lists of names, codes and numbers that had been practiced for orns beforehand. There were groups of femmes and mechs busking and performing for loose credits along with stages waiting to be opened in the evening.

It'd be lonely going to see a performance without Prowl, however it was something I knew I had to get used to. The mech was chief enforcer – he'd spend 80% of his time working. I bought a ticket to a performance called 'Peter and Alice' and kept it in my subspace for safe keeping before strolling around the building again.

I was disappointed to not see Blaster or Mirage. I missed them. Once I was bonded, I was sworn by duty to Prowl to remain in Praxus unless I had to leave. This meant I couldn't leave to see my creators, home city or my friends if I didn't have to. Suddenly I felt nervous. Could I do it? I didn't realise I had stopped walking until I felt a hand fall heavily on my shoulder, making me jump.

"Credit for your thoughts?" Smokescreen said, grinning. He knew he'd scared me and he loved it. I resisted the urge to pout.

"It's nothin'." I replied, looking back down at the floor. His optics still made me feel uncomfortable. He laughed, giving my shoulder a squeeze before he let go and took in his surroundings. "I dunno Jazz, you staring off into space in the middle of the room tells me something's up."

I looked at Smokescreen, carefully avoiding his optics, and took in his expression. Concern. Genuine concern. "Ah'm just a lil' nervous."

"A _little_?"

I allowed a small smile. "Okay, maybe a bit more." Smokescreen laughed, clapping me on the shoulder.

"Understandable. Come on, we should probably get moving. We're getting glared at."

* * *

I didn't tell Smokescreen that I planned to go and see the play – it almost felt as though I'd be cheating on Prowl if I had gone with him. So, on my own, I drove down to the Darbietung and arrived in good time to get to my seat and wait for it to begin.

The set showed a small room with a sofa, two dressers complete with shelves packed with datapads and surfaces covered in more, however they looked significantly less aged than the ones on the shelf, which were scratched, chipped and battered, and still had a shine to them. Between the two dressers was a door, above which was a clock. The floor was checkered, brown and cream, and there was a door to the far right of the scene, right on the edge of the set.

The clock was ticking, the sound echoing around the dead silent theatre. The door beneath it opened, and a femme who was slightly hunched over wearing a long, sweeping blue coat with a fluffy collar walked in, clutching a brown folder and an umbrella. She looked around uncertainly as she closed the door behind her, revealing a white helm, before she shrugged off her coat and perched on the edge of the sofa. She had a blue body with white hips, hands and shoulders. She lay her coat down on the arm next to her. She wasn't alone for long, as the door opened not even two minutes later as a mech walked in. He was entirely mocca with a black helm.

As the play went on, I learned more about the culture this play was taken from. They weren't so different to us.

Childhoods were stripped from them and responsibilities thrust upon their too-small shoulders, forced to bare the burdens they weren't ready for. Getting lost in fantasies of dazzling colour, dreams and music before being suddenly dropped back into the harsh, cruel reality of the world that left them in shock, and no one there to help them pick up the pieces left behind.

They, too, had gone to war. They too had lost loved ones, the truth hidden within a golden envelope or a knock at the door to reveal a grim-looking enforcer with their helm bowed.

These people weren't characters, they had really existed. Immortalised by what they resented.

Peter was forced to go to war alongside his brothers. He left the war not long after he had joined it from being mentally scarred. His brother, George, sustained a gunshot to the head. In our race, that wouldn't be fatal. Just painful – incredibly painful. To the organics in which this story came from, it was. Dead before they even realised it.

Then there was his brother Michael whom had a passion for art. He died, and the circumstances of his death were shady. He drowned with his friend Rupert in a pool notorious for its deadly currents, and it was unknown whether he died because he was a bad swimmer or because he and Rupert had made a suicide pact. A witness said that they didn't see them struggling. Their bodies were found clinging onto the other.

While Alice had been given the original manuscript to the story she had inspired, Peter hadn't. Alice could thrive off it, often selling the rights to keep herself fuelled and warm, but Peter had to scrape together what he could. Both bonded. Both had creations.

However, Alice died alone, forgotten in a library of a huge house with just the ghosts of her creations and mate to keep her company. Peter was chased by the ghosts of his past and the crushing reality of illness and threw himself into the path of an incoming train.

Peter wasn't entirely alone. He still had his bonded, his creations, and a brother.

Of the five brothers, only one remained – Nicholas. Two orns later, he followed.

Alice grew up surrounded by her nine siblings, and she had gained the interest of a photographer. Such an interest lead to the creation of a book where she was the namesake for the main character, a little femme called Alice.

She married happily and had three creations, however two were cruelly stolen by war and never returned home.

The fate of Alice's siblings weren't told, however we learned that she had a burning jealousy of her older sibling Lorina and was close with her younger sister Edith.

I left the theatre feeling slightly numb. They were immortalised in some of the greatest stories ever to be told on that planet, however they weren't happy. They died forgotten, forever living in the shadow of their characters. They weren't known as themselves. They were their characters, no matter what they did. Their deaths were reported as if the character had died, ignoring the people behind them who tried their hardest to break away from the stories.

The drive back was slow. I was mostly lost in my thoughts, keeping my speed low to avoid crashing into anything. The play did nothing to help settle my fears and doubts. When I finally got back, the last dregs of starlight were lighting up the crystal gardens. I quickly ran through them, reaching the door to the castle hidden within the maze of crystals breems before the stars finally finished setting and the last light faded from the structures.

My quarters were empty, as I expected. I briefly considered going into Prowls quarters and stealing a pillow, however if I were to be caught it would be, needless to say, _embarrassing_ and difficult to explain. Then again, I did need the sleep and without even the smell of Prowl I knew it would be hard. Questions would be asked.

A few joors later I was starting to reconsider this.

I had been lying there restlessly. I was tired – there was no denying that at all, and I was craving sleep. It wasn't coming and it wouldn't any time soon.

I briefly considered Prowl but a quick glance at the time told me not to. It was early morning, and he would most likely be asleep. He didn't appear to be having any recharge problems.

Lucky.

I'd had recharge problems since I was a youngling. One terrible night cycle was all it took for the issues to develop, and it ended up with me having to go through flooding to 'cure' it. Now that I had been spoiled with Prowl, they were starting to come back again.

That did it! I was getting that pillow and I was getting it now!

I snuck out of my room and checked both ways before creeping up the hall. It was almost dead silent and I could hear my quiet pedefalls, however they mercifully didn't echo. I encountered no one on my way there and I quickly entered in the code before slipping inside. The lights didn't come on, but I knew my way around his quarters like the back of my hand. I didn't trip over anything as I made my way over to the berth and I swiped a pillow, taking a deep intake as I crushed my face into it.

It smelt just like Prowl and I relaxed almost instantly. It smelt like his favourite wax and the polish he always liked to use along with the heavy scent of oil and something that was undeniably _Prowl_. Satisfied, I quickly subspaced it and snuck back to my quarters before curling up on my berth, cuddling the pillow like a youngling would a toy, falling asleep almost instantly.

I onlined again to a room that was bright. My chronometer told me that it was midcycle.

_Frag_.

I'd slept for most of the day! I hopped up and stashed Prowls pillow in my subspace – I didn't want the cleaning staff seeing it – before running down to the kitchens and getting a cube. The chefs there struck up a conversation with me and we were talking until the head chef came over to see what the commotion was about and scolded them, making them return to work.

Before I could distract anyone else from their duties I scuttled away and thought about what I could do with my free day. Now I didn't have Prowl with me, I could go to the areas he wasn't too keen on. See: loud places. He didn't last long in places with lots of loud sounds and noises as his doorwings would send him so much data back and would get sore, resulting in them aching after. I'd always feel bad and we wouldn't return again. But now, now I could. Despite having sensitive audial horns, they were built to handle soundwaves so I never had any problems with them. In fact, it just made music that much better.

I knew what I was going to do today.

* * *

**If anyone has any advice on iMacs that'd be greatly appreciated. I'm so glad that you can get Microsoft office for these things or I'd be so lost.**

**Anyone else here seen 'Peter and Alice'? I hope I remembered it correctly, it was a while ago…**

**Flooding is a type of treatment for a phobia. It's the more effective, but less ethical way of doing so. Say you had a fear of baked beans, you'd be put into a bathtub full of baked beans and forced to remain in that bathtub until the fear response stops and you start to relax around them. The theory goes that you will start to associate the feeling of relaxation with the baked beans and thus, phobia cured!**

**Also, thank you all so much for your reviews! They're what keep me going! I'll find the time to respond one day *sweats***

**~Llama**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hehehoohoo**

**On the topic of what I need help with my Mac for, just general things like what's where and what I shouldn't do with them. Any help is greatly appreciated!**

**Units of time as I use them:**

**Klick – a second**

**Breem – a minute**

**Joor – an hour**

**Cycle – a day**

**Decacycle – 10 days**

**Groon – a month**

**Orn – a decade**

**Vorn – a century**

{bond chatter}

::Comm. chatter::

* * *

By the time I had completely polished my frame, getting rid of all of the dirt that marred it before, the stars were getting lower and it was approaching the evening. I knew that if I wasn't quick enough in returning, I would have to stumble around blindly in the crystal gardens. The fact I had done it before didn't comfort me in the slightest – I wasn't _alone_ that time.

I quietly slipped out, giving a cheerful wave to the serving staff I passed, and drove into the city and down to the district that by this time in the cycle would be alive with colour, sound and neon lights.

Doors to underground buildings opened, freeing loud music with a beat that shook the ground. A glance through them showed me masses of mechs and femmes of all frame types inside, all dancing as best they could to the music. I smiled to myself, continuing onwards to the tallest building I could see.

The sides of it were covered in neon lights, showing a spectrum. The building itself was a pristine white metal that reminded me of a medical ward it was so blindingly bright. The double doors at the bottom were guarded by two mechs, entirely black in colour. They contrasted massively and so stood out like sore thumbs and told a clear message – _do not try anything_. When I was close enough to them, I saw that they both transformed into tanks, the barrels attached to their arm. They were almost twice my size and incredibly bulky. Yup. They were bouncers alright.

The building they were acting as bouncers for was a club reserved exclusively for nobles and those of high positions in Praxus. As I was a noble, I would be allowed in without a hitch.

I approached the bouncers with a grin plastered on my face. When I was close enough, one stepped forwards towards me, making the ground shake.

Heavy.

He left a small dent in the ground, although I wasn't sure if it was there from wear and tear or if he had quite literally stomped into my path.

"ID. or get lost."

What a pleasant mech. Still grinning, although less enthusiastically (having a mech twice your size violently stomp in front of you tended to do that to you), I extended my arm and revealed my wrist. I had decided to have my ID chip implanted in my arm as opposed to anywhere else – it was by far easier, right? The mech raised an eyebrow and gave me a wary look before he scanned my wrist before giving a curt nod and standing aside. The other mech opened the door and let me in before roughly closing it behind me.

The flooring was a cream stone with splashes of gold, which contrasted greatly with the black obsidian walls. I didn't know how far they had to go to get the precious stone, however they had it in huge amounts. Hanging from the ceiling were huge crystal diamonds, glowing faintly. The sides of the room were lined with small sofas adorned with rich fabrics and plump pillows, inviting you to take a seat. It was an offer I nearly took. The rich golds and creams complimented the choice of wall and floor colour well. While the room itself wasn't dim, it wasn't bright either – like a twilight after a clear summers day. It was nice and I instantly relaxed.

It felt strange here without Prowl as every new encounter had been with my favourite black and white in tow, but I would live. It wasn't hard.

There was an elevator at the far side of what I guessed must be the lobby. Its sides were entirely made of glass, the buttons simple pads on the glass. Beside the elevator was a list showing all of the floors that the elevator could go to.

Beside some of the names was a small golden 'P' on a black badge that looked eerily like the enforcers symbol. At the bottom was another badge with small text next to it saying that they were exclusive rooms that you needed permission and a special code to get into.

I wouldn't be missing out much; I wasn't interested in visiting a 'VIP' area. The club levels sounded much more inviting. So, up I went to go and act like I wasn't a decacycle away from being eternally tied to a mech I barely knew. No. I would channel my inner child and just _dance_.

Just as I was about to step up into the elevator I heard the door behind me swish open and a mech call my name. A strikingly familiar mech at that.

Smokescreen quickly strode up to me with a smile and a wave. I waited for him until he was beside me and we stepped in together. "Didn't expect to see you here."

"Ah wanted ta get a look at the clubs here. Prowler wasn't a fan of 'em."

"Yes, he's a bit of a recluse isn't he? Recoils back in fear at the thought of socialising."

I didn't know how to reply to that, so I did what I usually did when faced with an awkward situation. I laughed. Smokescreen grinned, obviously pleased that he'd gotten me to laugh before he pressed the button for one of the club levels.

"Why don't you join me for a drink or two? I know all of the best places."

"Sure, why not?"

When the elevator stopped at the designated floor, Smokescreen lead me over to a table tucked away in a corner and left to go and fetch us some high-grade from the bar. I took the opportunity to survey the mech's around us. All of them were nobles from what I could tell, some obviously courting (if the touches that lingered too long to be just friendly were any indication) and others going out with their friends.

I recognised a few from the council meetings and from the news. I had only met about one or two before, and that was only a mere formality. We were still as good as strangers to each other.

The room we were in was huge, a second floor visible from where I was sitting. It was like a ring, with a hole in the middle that allowed the mechs up there to see the club level below and those at the club level to see them. The floor was glass, and lights were put in underneath to create a floor that lit up when you stepped on it. The tables and bar area was circling around a section in the middle of the room where a DJ booth was set up, speakers almost twice the DJ's height and vibrating the floor. The floor around the DJ booth was constantly alight in a light show, with a whole spectrum of colour dancing around it. The night was still relatively young, so it wasn't packed yet, but I knew that in a little while it would be.

Smokescreen returned with the high-grade and commented on me looking around.

"Like the place?" He asked, sipping on his high-grade. It looked distinctly more violet than my neon pink.

"Ah can see myself comin' here often."

"It's a good place. Probably not to Prowls' taste though." He replied, giving me a hard look over the top of his high-grade. I shrugged, taking a sip of my own.

"Ah can go by myself, no biggie. 'Snot as if he's gonna be with meh all th' time." Smokescreen raised his eyebrows so I decided to elaborate. "He's an enforcer. Ah know how much work they have ta do."

"How would you know how much work they did in Praxus?"

Ah. Slag. I'd practically walked into that one, hadn't I?

"Ah'm comparin' it ta Polyhex – a friend of mine knows someone in the enforcers 'n' they're always sayin' about how busy they are." I lied, hoping that he didn't notice my visor brightening in shock at me letting something slip.

"I wasn't aware that Polyhex even _had_ enforcers. I always thought they had something a little different."

"Nah, we've got enforcers. It's a lil bit a both really – depends which sector ya in."

Smokescreen looked interested, and he was leaning forwards now, optics brighter than usual. "Sector?"

"Yeah – we've got different sectors fer different things. Like a performance sector, an entertainment sector, an art sector, a music sector – everythin'. They're split into different areas too, like fer music there's ya different genres. Any clubs that are down there'll only play the music from the area they're in, an' the shops only sell the music from that area too."

"Sounds interesting."

"It's confusin' fer newbies. Ya get lost the first couple hundred of times."

"Have you ever been lost?"

"Who hasn't? s'why it's fun."

"Why kind of transport do you have there? It sounds like it's hard to get around."

"Nah, it's easy as. In the centre of every sector is a shuttle station. The shuttles go all over Polyhex – it's super duper easy. The roads are also pretty good, though once ya get close to the centre the roads stop 'n' ya have ta walk."

Smokescreen seemed pretty interested in Polyhex, and I was happy to talk to him about it. I missed it – it was good for me to talk about it and get rid of that feeling of homesick that had settled in my tanks.

After a few joor of talking with Smokescreen, his doorwings suddenly flicked upwards and he was looking at someone over my shoulder. I was about to turn around and see who had caught his attention when I felt a hand suddenly fall on my shoulder.

"Excuse me, mechs, do you mind if I take a seat?"

The sickly sweet voice was one I had learned to _loathe_.

A reporter who focused on the nobles. More specifically, the nobles who were involved in bonding contracts. The fact that they had even managed to get into this place was beyond me – maybe they knew a guard? Snuck in? Got special permission from the club owner? Smokescreen gestured to a seat with a smile and a flick of his doorwings. The femme reporter skipped around to the seat and sat down, settling herself into a semi-relaxed position.

"Jazz," she began, putting her hands out on the table and leaning forwards excitedly, "It's been a long time! How have you been?" She asked, her doorwings fluttering excitedly. I internally grimaced. She was always so _casual_ and acted like we were the best of friends. Really, she was going to take a couple digs at me for some juicy scoop.

"It has, hasn't it?" I replied, smiling back. I'd act polite. I would try my best to not snap. That would most certainly not be good. That would show that she'd hit a nerve.

"What are you doing in Praxus? I wasn't expecting to bump into you here."

"Seein' some friends – me n' Smokey haven't seen each other in a couple vorns."

Smokescreens optic twitched at the nickname but he hid it well from the reporter. I was still struggling to remember her name. She had pestered me so many times but each time she _never_ said her _fragging_ name! I was wildly searching the Internet for any reports she had done when I finally found one…

On me and Prowl?!

I was perplexed. Why did she write an article on the two of us…?

Had we really been _that_ obvious? I went around Polyhex with Mirage all the time and yet no one dedicated an entire article to it. I didn't think that anyone would think anything of it.

While the femme was attacking Smokescreen with question after question, I read through the article. I very nearly started laughing when I realised that the centrepiece was the fact Prowl was seen _smiling_.

Oh no, what a disaster! The end is near! Prowl smiled!

But the more I read the more it started to make sense. From what I could tell, Prowl was never seen to smile and general opinion on him was 'sparkless aft' and 'emotionless drone'. As completely ridiculous as it sounded, it was obvious that this was a big deal. When he was working, he had a stoic expression and a monotone voice. Public appearances, too. In fact, it sounded like that's all he was to the people of Praxus. To see him going around with another mech was pretty big – Prowl just didn't have _friends_.

That was quite sad, actually.

At the end the reporter had signed off with her own handwriting – a very curly 'Erythrite'. Suitably coloured, I noted, as both the mineral and the femme were a dark, pomegranate purple. There was a slightly cold feeling in my tank, however. Just how obvious were we being? The article suggested that we were courting, but if that was visible just what else was?

I glanced up and saw that Erythrite was still occupied with Smokescreen. I smirked into my high-grade, which I had picked up to sip. Smokescreen looked uncomfortable with her over-excited attitude.

"What do you think of the pair?"

"I… uhm, well?" Smokescreen awkwardly began, glancing at me. Ah – she was asking about Prowler and me. "They're cute I guess, with the whole matching thing?"

Erythrite clicked her tongue, winking an optic at him. "Now now, no need to hold back. We're all friends here."

Smokescreen sighed and tried his best to not glare at her. "I think it's cute, although it's also none of your business. You shouldn't be here."

Erythrite sat back into her chair in shock. "Just curious, just curious." She replied, pretending to not be shaken at all by his sudden outburst. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little shocked at it. Her optics dimmed and she tensed slightly. "Well well well, would you look at the time! Sorry mechs, I've got somewhere to be. I'll see you around!" She announced, abruptly standing and quickly scurrying away in the opposite direction to the elevator.

Me and Smokescreen just shared a look before smirking at catching her out. We wouldn't be seeing her for a while.

* * *

**A lot of people are saying how they're expecting trouble with Smokescreen**

**Haha ohhhh boy. Can't wait until we get to ****_that_**** part.**

**For anyone who's confused, an elevator is a lift. Where I come from we call them lifts but elevator sounds more… well, it sounds nicer?**

**Reviews feed my inner beast *hint hint wink wink***

**Sorry that this took so long, I've started college and most days I'm not getting back home again until 5. I've also been ill and sleeping just isn't happening, welp.**

**Alsosorryaboutexperimentalweeps**

**~Llama**


	9. Chapter 9

**I hope the fact I've been in an almost constant rotten mood doesn't reflect in this chapter. My sincerest apologies if it does!**

**To those who have inboxed me – I'll get to them ASAP! The moment I'm in a better mood and less likely to be a snappy cow~**

**Units of time as I use them:**

**Klick – a second**

**Breem – a minute**

**Joor – an hour**

**Cycle – a day**

**Decacycle – 10 days**

**Groon – a month**

**Orn – a decade**

**Vorn – a century**

{bond chatter}

::Comm. chatter::

* * *

The next time I saw Erythrite was at the Darbietung. She was harassing other nobles much like she was last night, getting all close and personal and acting like they were old time friends.

The previous night I had spent with Smokescreen while we were both her targets. She spared me a glance before tensing slightly and quickly returning her attention to the noble she was interrogating, however I could tell a small part of her mind was still focused on me and where I was.

I hid a smirk as I continued past her, bounce in my step. I wouldn't let her get me down, nuh-uh. Prowl had only been gone for what, two days now? Nothin' was gonna be raining on my parade. Nothing at all.

A few of the stall owners who I had been struck up conversation before with noticed me and greeted me as I passed. I gave a cheeky wave and my signature grin as I walked past, trying to find a stall I had found before.

When I found it, the same old gangly looking mech who was manning it before was there. They recognised me and called me over, reaching below the stall to take out a datapad. It looked relatively used and it was almost completely worn away in places. They onlined it and started scrolling down as I made my way over. A couple of klicks passed before they hummed and passed it over to me.

"There's where you'll find it. Just tell them I sent you."

"Thanks, mech." I cheerfully replied, handing back the pad. I set off again towards the address that was on the datapad.

* * *

After a short drive I found the building I had been directed to.

It was in one of the older parts of Praxus, and the architecture showed it. Whereas the newer areas were straight and uniform, built up in block-like structures, this building had a triangular roof with pillars supporting a huge section of the front. There were stairs leading up to the door, which was automatic. There was a button to the side, probably acting as a buzzer, and I couldn't quite tell why.

The building had a leady shine to it that made it look much heavier than it really was. On the door, and on all of the pillars, was the same emblem I saw on the list of floors at the Noble club. While on the pillars it was engraved and had no colour to it, the emblem on the door was vibrant and eye-catching. Maybe the owners of this building also owned the floors?

I quickly climbed the steps and pressed the button by the door, which created a loud chime that echoed throughout the room behind the door. Within seconds the door opened and a mech welcomed me in.

They were of Praxian build, and on their doorwings was the black emblem.

"You are Jazz, correct?" They asked, bowing slightly. I nodded.

"The one an' only."

They smiled and nodded, quickly turning and gesturing for me to follow. I followed them into another, much larger, room and sat down on a sofa when instructed. They quickly excused themselves after they offered me energon, which I accepted, and I sat there in silence sipping on it for a short while before another praxian mech came in.

I looked up at them and thought that they looked familiar. Did I see them last night?

They paused slightly when they saw me before tilting their helm to the right.

"Forgive me for asking, but were you at Prax last night?"

Prax? The frag was that?

"Ah don't think so, what's Prax?"

"The exclusive nobles club. Huge building, all white with neon up the sides. Incredibly hard to miss."

That sounded awfully like the club I was at last night… Was that what it was called? I wasn't really paying attention. "Are there two huge mech's actin' as bouncers fer it?"

"Yes."

Ah. I may have been. I squinted my optics and focused on his face – yep. I saw him. One of the mechs that were chatting up everything that breathed. The mech obviously noticed the recognition that flooded onto my face as they started grinning. "I knew it! You were there, weren't you? Sitting with Smokescreen?" They replied, excitedly sitting in the seat opposite me. I nodded, smiling a little at their enthusiasm.

"Yeah, Ah was. Ya were sittin' on th' table to the left?"

"Yes. Me and Smokescreen are friends, we're going to Prax again tonight to have a little flutter."

"Ah didn't see Smokescreen as the gamblin' type." I mused, leaning back slightly in my seat. The mech chuckled.

"Not many do. Now, please forgive my rudeness." They extended their hand forwards towards me, taking care to make sure it was the hand opposite my free one, "My name is Amidon. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure's mine." I easily replied, shaking his hand. The mech smiled at me as they settled back into their chair.

"Forgive me for asking, but what exactly is your relation to Smokescreen? I've never seen you two together before."

"Ah'm friends with Prowl. Prowl had ta go on business a couple orns ago, and Ah decided ta take a look 'round the other places in Praxus. Ah bumped inta Smokescreen in Prax and we decided ta have a drink together."

"Yes, I did see you around Praxus with Prowl. It's started something big, let me tell you that." They replied with a laugh. "Prowl isn't usually seen around Praxus with company. Now, I hear there's a certain book file you're looking for?"

"Yes, Ah was told ya could help meh."

"I can certainly help you. I have it."

I immediately perked up, leaning forwards and placing my cube of energon on the table beside me. "Are ya willin' ta part with a copy?"

"It depends. Who sent you here?"

"A mech in the Darbietung. I think his name was Dolerite? Got a great accent, sounds like he's from Tyger pax."

Amidon nodded, optics glinting. "Ah, Dolerite. Should have known, he did say someone would be coming soon. I wasn't expecting it to be a friend of Smokescreens, however. This certainly changes things."

I gave him a confused look. How did it change anything? At my confused expression, he paused before his calculating expression morphed into one that was by far friendlier. "A friend of Smokescreens is a friend of mine, and I only do dealings with friends." He explained with ease, taking a datapad from the shelf behind him before removing another from his subspace. He connected the two together and began copying the contents of one onto the other. When it was complete just breems later, he handed me the brand new datapad.

"Here you go. I'll be contacting Dolerite for your payment later, so don't you worry about that. I trust I'll be seeing you at Prax tonight? Me and the others are always on the lookout for potential gambling partners."

The truth was, I had no idea how to gamble. Sure, I had a brilliant poker face that was envied by thousands and I was pretty good at board games like chess, but gambling? Not up my alley. I'd never gambled in my entire functioning. "Ah'll see. Ah'm not much of a gambler." I replied as I onlined the pad and quickly scanned it to make sure it was what I wanted.

Amidon laughed, clapping me on the shoulder. "Well then, we'll just have to teach you, wont we?"

* * *

When I left it was already gone midday. I had stayed for a while longer talking to Amidon, who taught me the basics to a few simple card games. Datapad safely tucked away in my subspace where it wouldn't be resurfacing until I saw Prowl again – whenever that would be – I transformed and drove back towards the crystal gardens. If Amidon expected me to turn up tonight I'd have to start learning and fast. Or I just sit there and look pretty.

Sitting there looking pretty was probably the best idea for me at this point in time.

When I arrived back at the castle there, Smokescreen was already waiting for me in the grand hall. When I walked in he was intently staring at the painting that dominated the north wall, but he turned around when he heard my pedefalls echo around the room.

"Amidon tells me that he was teaching you to gamble." He said, smirking. My mouth dropped open in indignation – did _nothing_ stay private around here?!

"How..?!"

"Comm. link. Very handy. He's asked me to teach you some more as he wishes you to be there tonight."

"Ah'm thinkin' of just sittin' there lookin' pretty."

"Not a chance, Jazz. Running away at the last moment? Tut tut. Very unmechly of you."

I frowned slightly before sighing and relenting. "Fine. Ah don't make any promises though."

Smokescreens doorwings immediately perked up, forming a 'v' above his shoulders. "Brilliant! Come on, I'll start teaching you now. We leave on the sixth joor."

* * *

_OhPrimuswhydidIthinkthiswasagoodidea_

I was sitting in the same room as the night before with three other mechs. Smokescreen, Amidon and another mech who called himself a charming name of Bonecrusher. Very inviting designation. He seemed to fit it too, as he was bulkier than Smokescreen and had a mean looking jaw.

There was no Erythrite in sight, much to my relief, and I allowed myself to relax a little more. Answering her in front of Smokescreen was okay – I mean, if anything slipped up it wouldn't really _matter_ because he already knew about me and Prowl. And people usually took Erythrite's articles with a pinch of salt anyway, what with her enthusiastic elaboration on series of events to make them seem much, much more interesting than they really were. But now with two mechs thrown into the mix who didn't? Well, it was a recipe for disaster.

I was sipping on my highgrade, a cube that was glowing a pale green this time with pink crystals floating in it, while watching the other three all gamble. They were good. Scary good. Much to my well-hidden surprise, Smokescreen appeared to be the best at it. He _never_ lost and whenever he did, the other two would just give him this _look_ that told him they knew he'd lost on purpose so they wouldn't feel bad about losing all of the time. I did join in for a short period of time before they all quickly realised that I was a lost cause and I was demoted to sitting there watching.

Watching and learning. I was learning a thing or two from watching the trio.

Also just sitting there and looking pretty. I'd already had a few mechs try and get me away from the other three, but they were quickly shot down. Those that were pretty insistent were sent away by Smokescreen, whom just had to cough loudly and the mech's would scuttle away.

Oh the perks of being the Lords creation.

At the end of the night, when the first star rise was just a few joor away, Smokescreen announced that he was tired and was returning home. I left with him after bidding the other two goodnight. The drive home was relatively uneventful.

Just as I was about to split away from him and go to my quarters, eager to take Prowls pillow out of my subspace and bury my face into it, Smokescreen stopped me with a hand to my shoulder.

"You should come along again tomorrow, it was good to have you there. I can teach you a few more things tomorrow, maybe then you'll last longer than five breems." He said, humour clear in his voice. He was trying to not laugh at my misfortune. I thought I'd done pretty well, considering it was my first time and just who I was up against.

"Sure. It was fun." I replied, trying my hardest to not yawn. Primus I was tired – late night after late night were starting to take their toll on me.

"Great. I'll meet you in the gardens tomorrow, okay? Where we first properly met."

"Sure. Goodnight, Smokescreen."

"Goodnight, Jazz."

I ambled back to my quarters and immediately flopped onto the bed, drawing Prowls pillow from my subspace and cuddling up to it as I buried myself under the thermal blanket. I absently wondered what he'd be like while gambling as I allowed the clutches of recharge to claim me.

* * *

**I am not kidding when I say that when I name my OC's I either look on the back of Percy Pig packets (All hail the French labels), open up my mineral book or look at a colour chart. I am so bad.**

**~Llama**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chirrrrp.**

**Warning for sticky UvU**

**Units of time as I use them:**

**Klick – a second**

**Breem – a minute**

**Joor – an hour**

**Cycle – a day**

**Decacycle – 10 days**

**Groon – a month**

**Orn – a decade**

**Vorn – a century**

{bond chatter}

::Comm. chatter::

* * *

True to his word, Smokescreen was waiting for me.

When I sat down he took out a box from his subspace and leaned towards me, hands clasped together with a mischievous glint in his optics.

"Prowl is going to _kill_ me." He said as he opened it and took out its contents. "I'll go over the basics of card-based games again as a refresher and then I'll start teaching you some other tricks and how to play poker, okay?"

"Why's Prowler gonna kill ya?" I asked, nodding to show that I'd understood.

"Enforcers. They have a _thing_ about gambling. The fact I've taught you, his intended to gamble? _Scandalous_. He wont speak to me for decacycles."

"He won't if he doesn't find out."

Smokescreen grinned at me. "I like the way you think."

"Many do."

The next few Joors were spent with me and my pitiful attempts at playing poker. I was apparently getting better at it, but I had yet to last longer than ten breems. It certainly beat my five breems, however. Servers came with energon at midcycle and took the empty cubes away a Joor later.

Every so often I could feel a prickling feeling on my upper back, as if I were being watched. Whenever I turned around I could see a shadow in one of the windows on the top floor, but they quickly vanished. I couldn't think of who it could be. They were too thin to be Lord Smokescreen – no offence to him – and it wasn't any of the serving staff. They weren't allowed on the top floor.

I decided to ignore it and think about it later. Maybe Prowl would know?

Thinking about Prowl made me suddenly realise that we hadn't spoken at all. Usually there'd be at least one comm. at night before he went to recharge. I told myself that it was because he was busy or it might compromise us, but there was a nagging at the back of my mind about the reason he was there in the first place. I immediately crushed that thought down. That wouldn't happen again. Not so soon and in the same place.

* * *

Aaaaand now for round two of 'Jazz vs. gambling'! Will Jazz last longer than his record-smashing five breems?

Prooooobably not!

Smokescreen seemed to be rather optimistic anyway, insisting that even if my gameplay wasn't up to par, my poker face was one to die for. Even if my hand was atrocious I'd still be sitting there with a massive grin plastered on my face.

I wasn't surprised to see Amidon already waiting for us with highgrade. He'd bought the same drinks as last night, and was already lazily sipping on his own. The blue glow of it reflected off his chassis which looked liquid, as if it had recently been polished. His doorwings were fanned out almost lazily, their dark blue colour almost black in the dim lighting.

Amidon was the kind of mech who was never late and was incredibly cautious, making sure he knew where his boundaries lay and not trying to push them. He'd slowly edge them to where he wanted them to be.

We were soon joined by Bonecrusher, who settled into his seat between Smokescreen and Amidon, and we began.

Much to the surprise of myself and everyone around me, I played relatively well. I lasted much, much longer than I had when it was just me and Smokescreen, however I suspected that it was because they were going easy on me. For that I was somewhat grateful, as the other night the other nobles and high-class were finding me to be their source of entertainment.

My small victory was short lived, and I lasted a grand total of twenty breems. The result of 'Jazz vs. gambling' was a yes, Jazz will last longer. Smokescreen was impressed and ordered another round of highgrade to celebrate my 'victory'.

I spent the rest of the night watching them and seeing which moves to make and which moves to not make. I felt myself gradually starting to learn and get more confidence.

The night ended in the same way – Smokescreens staggering victory – and we returned home. Smokescreen extended the same offer again (apparently Bonecrusher had a few days off work which was why they were cashing in and spending as much time together as possible) and I accepted again.

So, cycle nineteen of my stay in Praxus was spent learning how to play poker against three masterminds. Yet again.

I was starting to lose hope at seeing Prowl before I left – no comm. to say if he'd be back in time, no message from anyone else and I was leaving tomorrow afternoon. Even if he did return by tomorrow morning, there wouldn't be enough time for us to actually _do_ anything. He'd have to report to his Sire, which always took joors, and then I'd be occupied making sure everything was sorted for me to go back to Polyhex.

I sighed wistfully as I absently traced patters in the wax I was applying to myself. I'd decided to make myself look extra shiny and liquid today, hoping that it'd last long enough so that I didn't have to spend quite as long making myself up for my return home. The reporters would be a _nightmare_.

At the same time as the previous nights, I met Smokescreen in the grand hall before we left to meet Amidon and Bonecrusher in Prax. Today there was a slight change in plan where the other three wanted to dance instead of sitting in a secluded corner gambling like usual, and I was happy to comply. If Prowl saw me, I was certain that he'd have a spark attack.

What? I was enjoying my last cycles as a free mech. He could brutally dismember the mechs later. While Smokescreen was being the social butterfly he was, dancing with everyone and everything, Amidon and Bonecrusher had elected to stick together. As I looked at them from over my cube, I noted that they looked relatively cute together. While Bonecrusher looked like a nasty piece of work that had seen his fair share of fights – mostly being the one who had started them in the first place – Amidon looked graceful and gentle (which he admittedly was). He moved like the liquid he had buffed his armour to mimic, while Bonecrusher was heavy footed like the fighter he most likely was.

I double took as I noticed that there was an emblem on Bonecrushers forearm. How did I not notice it before? It was the same black shield with a golden P on the front as the one that was on the door to Amidon's house. I concentrated more on Amidon to see if I could see it anywhere on him. Given his dark paintjob, it was difficult in the dim lighting, however when a strobe light passed over him I spotted it on his shoulder. What was this emblem for? Was it some kind of VIP for Prax? If so, what were they doing in a normal floor like this one?

My questioning was short lived when Smokescreen leaned against the bar next to me, breathing heavily. He'd obviously been dancing for a while now.

"Havin' fun?" I asked, gesturing for the bar tender to come over. Smokescreen ordered and nodded.

"It's refreshing. I haven't been able to dance like this for groons."

"Job stoppin' ya?"

"You could say that."

I nodded thoughtfully, empathising with him. My role as a noble sometimes stopped me from being able to do what I loved. Pit, I hadn't sung in _decacyles_. The moment I was back in Polyhex nothing would stop me. _Nothing_.

I stifled a yawn as I checked my internal chronometer. It was getting late, and I was tired. There was still a little light outside, so as long as I was quick I wouldn't have a problem getting through the crystals. I bid farewell to him, telling him that I was getting tired and I should probably get some sleep before my way back tomorrow, before deciding to not try to find the other two in the throng of mechs and femmes, and then leaving.

* * *

I curled up in my berth, Prowl's pillow hugged tightly to my chassis. My last night wasn't as glamorous as I had originally hoped it would be. I was about to offline my optics to prepare myself for recharge when my comm. went off.

I nearly launched myself at the door when I saw who had sent the message.

Prowler!

I excitedly opened it and tried my hardest to not start bouncing around on the berth. It was a simple message that was composed of three words.

::Open the door::

I wasn't about to hesitate in complying. I quickly opened the door to find –

Nothing.

Nobody was there.

'Confused' didn't quite cover it. I was about to dejectedly close the door when I noticed something on the floor.

I knelt down to pick it up. It was a small box with an engraving of something that looked decidedly organic – I think it was called a flower? - on the top. I looked at the bottom and saw something that was usually on the bottom of musical boxes to wind them up.

Could this be what I thought it was?

Only one way to find out. I undid the latch and carefully opened it. It was a musical box all right. I instantly recognised the tune it was playing as the one Rhythm would sing to me and the one I was humming while rubbing salve onto Prowls doorwings. How did he even _remember_ it?

::Here. _Now_.:: I immediately . I heard laughter behind me and I whirled around to face an amused Prowl.

I immediately closed the door. It wouldn't do to be caught this early on, would it now? Not even giving him the chance to collect himself, I pounced and tackled him to the floor.

Using his shoulders for balance, I pressed my lips against his. Prowls hands found themselves pressed against my back, pulling me towards him. I gasped when they ran over a sensitive area and melted against him as he continued to run his hands over it. Oh that monster, he knew what he was doing!

I was, regardless, incredibly glad to have Prowl back. I pressed a line of kisses down to his throat cables, where I started to nuzzle and nibble them. Prowl heavily exhaled and the hand that wasn't tormenting me reached up to pull my helm closer.

"Miss me?" he whispered into my audial, sending a shudder straight down my back struts.

"Lots 'n' lots."

"Glad to hear it." Prowl replied as he gently started to sit up, me straddling his lap. "We should go to recharge. Stop us from doing anything we may regret."

"Aww Prowler~!" I whined, dancing my fingers over his transformation seams, "Don't be a spoilsport!"

Prowl bit down on his bottom lip and his grip tightened fractionally, but he quickly released his hold on me and stopped chomping on himself. "No. Recharge now."

Pouting, I stood up and closed the musicbox. I placed it on the table by the door as I passed it and suddenly remembered the book file I had gotten from Amidon. I reached into my subspace and extracted it before handing it to Prowl.

"Welcome back, lover."

As he onlined it, I walked back to my berth and hopped on top of it, watching Prowl to see what his reaction would be. After a few klicks of him being completely still, he slowly looked up to face me. His optics were a few shades darker than usual and were half lidded.

We couldn't interface – not until we'd bonded, at least – due to traditions. We'd already mangled a large number of them through courting each other alone and sharing comm. numbers was considered a massive taboo. Breaking this one wouldn't be a very nice looking mark on our records.

But if those weren't bedroom eyes I didn't know what they were, and I was eager to find out just how far he was willing to go.

I suggestively opened my legs and beckoned him forwards with a single digit. Within seconds he was pressing himself against me, glossa invading my mouth and his hands roaming, tracing over paths where they had travelled before. I moaned into his mouth, reciprocating as best as I could. I gently ran a hand across the length of a doorwing, and he moaned. It was a deep, rich and delicious sound that I hoped I'd be hearing lots of in the future.

He broke the kiss and started to press kisses along my neck, caressing the metal there. "I don't want you to go" He admitted between the kisses. I felt my spark twinge slightly. I didn't want to go either, but I had to.

"Ah'll be back before you know it." I replied, kissing his chevron.

"Not soon enough."

"Ah'll make it up to ya" I murmured, giving him a sultry look. His engine purred and he wrapped his arms around me, causing our hips to grind together in a way that sent a jolt of pleasure right up my back struts. Wanting more of that sensation, I hooked my legs over his hip plating.

"What are you doing?"

"Jus' roll wit' it" I replied, rolling my hips so they ground against Prowls. We both gasped at the sensation, and Prowl began moving back against me. The sensations were exploding over my neural net, and with a click both of our panels opened.

My spike extended alongside his and we both gasped as they rubbed together. Prowls doorwings twitched like they did when he was planning something, and he reached between us, wrapping a hand around both of our lengths, causing them to grind together. I barely held back a moan, Primus this was indescribable. He gently began to rock his hips, creating delicious friction that reduced me to a babbling mess within moments.

"Prowler" I moaned, starting to rock my hips with his. He appeared to enjoy the gesture as he released a breathy groan, his optics dimming in lust. This felt _incredible_, why hadn't we thought of it before? There was no way to check at all. Despite that, there was still a nagging feeling at the back of my mind.

"Are we allowed ta do this?" I panted, coherent thought starting to become difficult. Prowls doorwings twitched downwards.

"No" He began, hips jerking slightly with a grunt as transfluid began to leak from the tip of his spike, "however there is no way to prove that we did or did not."

I nodded, succumbing to the sensation of our equipment rubbing together with the knowledge that this was forbidden – which makes _everything_ ten times hotter – and I moaned, transfluid starting to dribble down my own length. Prowls hand smeared it around, creating an easier glide and Prowl began to rock his hips even faster.

Our lips locked together again, fitting together oh so perfectly, glossas tangling together.

I never wanted this moment to end, my hands gripping onto his plating as I felt the tension that had built between my legs about to break. When he broke the kiss and began to nibble on my bottom lip, the tension snapped and I overloaded with a loud cry, transfluid spurting from the tip of my spike and dribbling down Prowls hand. I distantly heard Prowl following me.

He collapsed down next to me, panting heavily, smile on his face.

I love his smile.

I held his clean hand, shuttering my visor. We both lay there, listening to the others intakes beginning to settle, bathing in the afterglow.

"We should wash this off" Prowl murmured, gesturing to our lower bodies. I internally cringed – we were both stained with evidence, some of which was already starting to dry. If one looked closely, they'd see paint transfers.

"Later" I mumbled, shuffling closer to him and burrowing my face into his shoulder. I was going to _enjoy_ my last moments with him, fraggit! We could spend at much time as we liked cleaning ourselves in the morning. Prowl sighed and adjusted his hold on me so that one arm was thrown lazily over me. "Your call." He quietly replied before relaxing.

* * *

**I had the sticky scene written back when I first started writing this and NOW I FINALLY GET TO USE IT. Christ almighty.**

_**I'msorryifthatisn'taccurateIdon'thavethosepartsI'm alady**_

**This chapter turned out a lot longer than it was meant to I'm sorry ;A;**

**Super duper quick update because some of it was already written and my internet went down, leaving me unable to do my coursework (welp) so what's a girl to do?**

**~Llama**


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